Poké Beat
by thatdragonwiththetophat.com
Summary: A series of one-shots about various Pokémon who get in interesting, and always comical, situations. Every chapter, a new Pokémon, a new funny situation, a new comical problem to solve. Are the situations implausible? Maybe. But it won't stop you from laughing.
1. Persim Prison- Lucario

**_Basic concept and premise was inspired by the South African CGI animated series Jungle Beat_ _by Sunrise Productions. Please give them your support._**

* * *

 **Poké Beat**

 **Persim Prison**

In a clearing within a lush, green forest, a Bone Rush was being expertly twirled and swung around. It was flung into the air in a mighty toss, and then caught by its owner, a lone Lucario. Still twirling the Bone Rush like a staff, Lucario passed it from paw to paw, jumping over it and flipping, spinning himself around, and maintaining complete control over the twirling Bone Rush.

Lucario deftly caught it as he stopped in perfect balance on one foot, and was still. He stood in silence, with his eyes closed in meditation.

Lucario then opened his eyes, and he spotted something a few yards away from him. He leaned forward to peer at the object, and his eyes discerned it to be a Persim Berry.

Gasping in joy, Lucario let his Bone Rush go and briskly walked towards it. He licked his lips as his eyes focused on the Persim Berry on the ground several feet away from. He reached out his paw towards it, leaning forward slightly to bend over and grab it, smiling eagerly as he did so. His extended arm approached the Persim Berry, and was stopped just as a loud clang ran out through the forest.

Lucario's arm, and the rest of his body fell down flat as he landed on his stomach. He stared at his arm, which was extended out through the bars of the cubical cage that had sprung up around him, complete with a top. Lucario gave a sad sigh as he stared up his arm, then at the Persim Berry, then up at the cage. The cage was a perfect cube, and about 1 and 1/2 times as tall as he was.

Lucario pulled his arm back in and opened his closed his paw a few times, staring at it. Then, his somber appearance change to one of frustration as he let out a growl and repeatedly swung a Bone Rush at the bars.

* * *

He roared as he hacked wildly at the bars with his Metal Claws, flailing his arms like crazy.

* * *

He stood with a steady, stable stance as he formed an Aura Sphere in his paws. He grunted as he hurled the Aura Sphere at the bars in front of him. It almost seemed to just stick to the bars for the briefest a moments, then it bounced off back towards Lucario. He quickly leaned to one side to avoid it, and it bounced off of the other side and came back at an angle towards him. Lucario quickly reacted by hitting the ground and lying flat as the Aura Sphere bounced wildly around the cage.

Lucario hugged the ground, breathing out to calm himself as he lay as still as he could on the grass. Then the Aura Sphere ricocheted up towards the top of the cage, and then straight down into Lucario's back.

The force of the hit caused Lucario's mouth and eyes to open wide as he now lay spread-eagled on the ground, with his tail stiff and standing up from strength of the blow.

As Lucario lay there with his wide eyes, he was able to see the Persim Berry lying on the ground just a few feet away.

Lucario stared at it, the narrowed his eyes and frowned as he gave a quick determined nod and grunted. He tried to crawl forward, but found himself to be stuck. He took a deep breath and pushed off of the ground with paws and feet, and his chest spike popped out of the ground. He took a moment to stand up, brush the dirt off of his chest spike, and then gently smooth his tail back into its natural position.

He then laid himself on the ground and crawled towards the side of the cage that faced the Persim Berry. He reached his arm out through the bars and tried to close the distance between his paw and the Persim Berry. He clenched and teeth and growled as he saw it was only a few inches away. Lucario crawled further, pushing the side of his face into the bars as he stretched his arm as far as it could go. His middle digit came with a few centimeters of the Persim Berry, but it was as far as his arm could stretch.

Lucario growled as he scratched and punched at the ground in frustration.

* * *

Lucario's leg slid towards the Persim Berry as he lay on his back within the cage and edged towards the bars, bushing his body along with his arms. He wedge his blue fur through the bars as he brought his foot closer to the Persim Berry. He raised his leg a bit, and then brought it down at the Persim Berry. His toes brushed the side of it, and Lucario stretched his leg hard until his foot closed tightly around the Persim Berry.

Lucario laughed triumphantly, and he quickly crawled backwards, smiling as his foot brought the Persim Berry closer and closer to the cage.

When he pulled his foot through the bars, the Persim Berry caught on the bars and popped out of Lucario's grasp. Lucario's back was against the opposite side of the cage when he noticed, and he quickly stood up and, in his excitement, unconsciously triggered Extreme Speed as he ran towards the other side of the cage. He didn't see the hole in the ground his chest spike has made earlier, and his foot got caught in it, causing him to trip forward. When combined with his Extreme Speed, it practically swung him forward with such force that his entire head was jammed right through a gap in between two bars. In addition, his long snout hit the Persim Berry and knocked far off and into the forest.

Lucario lay in that position in shocked silence. Then his eye twitched as he let out a furious roar and gripped the two bars his neck was caught between. He shook the bars as he repeatedly tried to pull his head back in, but then suddenly stopped as an idea struck him.

He stood up slowly, still holding onto the bars as he raised his head up along with the rest of his body. He then turned his head sideways and slipped his arms through the shame gap his head had been forced through. Then, with his arms on the outside, he gripped the two bars he was caught between and pushed, slowly threading his torso through the gap, which had actually been widened a bit by the force of the Extreme Speed.

He turned his body, and fell onto his side, his upper half now outside of the cage. He then slowly crawled backwards and pulled his lower body out through the gap in the bars. Now free from the cage, Lucario lay flat on his back and breathed in and out slowly.

He lay like this for a moment, then sat up fast and looked around quickly. He then stood up and walked off quickly into the forest. He peered through the foliage, and he smiled brightly when he spotted the Persim Berry on the ground. He reached down to grab it, but stopped short to look around nervously, giving his surroundings a suspicious eye. Once he was satisfied, he quickly snatched the Persim Berry up, brought it to his open mouth, and bit into it.

Lucario was still for a second, then he quickly knocked the berry out of his mouth and let his tongue hang out as he looked down with disgust and disappointment. But then he turned around and saw the cage he had escaped from, and a look of smiling satisfaction grew on Lucario's face.


	2. Tree Top Nap- Leafeon

_**This episode was inspired by BritishStarr's drawing entitled "Leafy." on DeviantArt.**_

 **Poké Beat**

 **Tree Top Nap**

On a long tree branch, extending from the thick trunk of a very old tree, rested a Leafeon, laying down for a peaceful afternoon nap. A gentle breeze blew through the tree tops, creating the natural music of rustling leaves. Leafeon moved subtly in her sleep, her crossed hind paws rubbing against each other as she nestled her face into her forelegs.

As the breeze blew just a bit stronger, Leafon twitched a bit more, and began to slowly roll over in her sleep. She slowly rolled over to one side of the branch, and all four of her legs uncrossed as her two right legs held onto the branch. As she hung from the branch, one of her brown eyes slowly began to open. He left eye looked down at the ground far below, and she immediately sprang awake with a fearful cry.

In her shock, her right hind leg lost hold of the branch, leaving her hanging by her right front leg. Leafeon swung like a pendulum, her black pupils dilating in her brown eyes as she looked down through the scores of branches below her to the very distant ground.

Leafeon gave several shaky breaths, and then turned her gaze back up at the branch she was hanging from, and her paw tightened its grip around the branch. After shaking her tail and kicking her hind legs a few times, she held her breath and began to swing her body back and forth. Her brown forepaw was wrapped around the branch in a vice-like grip as she swung higher and higher each time.

Then, with a mighty swing of her tails and legs, she looped up and over around the branch, let go at the apex of her swing, and then landed back on the branch with all four feet. Her landing caused the branch to shake up and down a bit before slowly stopping.

Leafeon stood still on the branch, looking around fearfully and breathing heavily as she slowly calmed down. She then smiled as her breathing returned to a calmer pace, and she laid back down in her initial sleeping position. She had just closed her eyes again, when a loud cracking sound made her ears twitch. She opened her eyes and looked around for the source of the sound. Finally, she turned her head back, craning her neck to see out of the corner of her eye that the there was a large, wide crack where the branch met the tree trunk.

Leafeon's mouth hung open for a tense moment as her chest heaved up and down with every frightened breath she took. She then turned her head back to face forward, away from the wide crack. Her brown eyes darted around in a panic, then she closed them and let out a long puff of air.

Looking a little calmer, Leafeon, still with her eyes closed, stuck her brown nose up into the air, and then confidently stood up on her feet. Then, she slowly moved her body around with subtle, graceful, light steps. Once she faced the tree, she opened her eyes and stared down the large break in the wood. She then got into a pouncing position, and wagged her tail and rear as she tensed up to spring. However, at the last moment, Leafeon froze, and she blinked a few times in thought. She then smiled, stood up straight, and laughed quietly to herself.

She gave a sly wink in the tree's direction, then carefully lifted her left forepaw and placed it down in a very light step forward. Leafeon's ears then stood up like signal flags as a very loud crack came from the break in the branch. With eyes widened, Leafeon went back into a pouncing position and was about to jump forward when the branch completely snapped off of the tree.

Leafeon screamed as the tree branch fell and spun around, all four of her paws clinging to the branch thanks to her retractable claws. Her decent was abruptly halted when the branch was suddenly caught by two other thin but sturdy branches. Both ends of Leafeon's branch was snapped off by the impact, leafing her clinging to a short section of branch suspended on both ends by the twin thin branches.

Leafeon stood still again, eyes still widened in fear. Then she gave out another cry of fear as the branch she clung to turned over, suspending her upside-down above the still very distant ground. She let out yet another cry as both of her forepaws lost hold of the branch and she hung by her hind paws, her claws still dug into the wood.

Leafeon gasped for breath as she stared downwards, then she looked up at the twin branches on either side of her. She then took a huge breath and held it. She then performed a mighty swing by her hind paws, up and over the branch she hung from, and then grabbed the two side branches with her forepaws, digging her claws into them. At that moment, the center branch snapped in half, and Leafeon let the pieces fall from her hind paws.

Holding on tightly to the branches on either side of her, hanging like a gymnast, Leafeon groaned as she pulled her body upwards, using her front legs like arms. She breathed heavily as she forced a smile, and even let out a bit of nervous laughter. Then her leaf-like ears sprang up as more cracking sounds rang out.

Leafeon cried out desperately as the branches snapped and she fell down fast. She spun and tumbled in free fall, barely seeing the tree branches pass her by. However, with a sudden burst of determination evident from her clenched teeth and narrowed eyes, Leafeon reached out with here forepaws, witch were still stuck into the broken branches by her claws, and swung them around a thick branch just as she fell alongside it. The branches caught around the branch, and Leafeon's decent was halted let again.

She let out a cry that sounded almost like a sob, and kicked her hind legs wildly as she tried to pull herself up, but her eyes widened in more fear as she began to slide down the thick branch as if she were riding a zip-line. When she reached the end of the branch, the branches she was holding onto hit a small spring that sprouted out from the thick branch and were knocked out of her claws.

Leafeon flipped briefly in mid air, then fell straight down like a stone. She screamed with her eyes closed as she reached out blindly for something to hang onto. Her paws eventually found a branch to grab hold of, and she wrapped all four legs around it tightly. She opened her eyes to look up at the tree branches that blocked out the sky above. She looked across to see the cracks already forming in the branch.

She stared with wide eyes at first, then her eyes overflowed with tears and she let out a loud sob. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she thrashed her tail and head around in anguish as she wailed in utter grief. She was cut short by a loud cracking noise that put an end to her thrashing and sent her ears straight up yet again. Leafeon then took a long deep breath in and out, closed her eyes with a solemn nod, and then let go of the branch.

Leafeon's eyes snapped open about a second later, and she slid her paws along the ground as she lay on her back. She looked around at the branches she broke scattered on the ground around her. She then looked up at the branch she had just let go of, which was about a foot or two above the ground.

Leafeon gave a long, solemn blink. Then, she started laughing hysterically as she kicked her hind legs and rolled across the ground. She rolled onto her stomach and nuzzled the ground lovingly with her cheek. She then crossed both pairs of her legs and rested her head on her forelegs. She closed eyes and drifted off to sleep with a smile.


	3. Not Having a Ball- Zoroark and Buneary

**Poké Beat**

 **We're Not Having a Ball**

In a superlative afternoon in the forest, a Buneary hopped along, smiling innocently as she hopped along and looked around at her surroundings. Buneary came to a shady tree, and rested in it's cool shade. She leaned against the tree, and she took out a large Pecha berry and began to eat it.

As Buneary ate peacefully, from a medium distance away, something was watching her. From behind some thick bushes, a Zoroark crouched and peered at Buneary. Zoroark stood up a bit and got a clearer look at Buneary. His blue eyes widened a bit, and he licked his lips hungrily. He crouched back down and quickly made his way in a semicircle around Buneary and the tree.

Zoroark peeked out through a gap between two bushes. Buneary was still eating the Pecha berry, and was just about done. Zoroark snickered darkly, tensed her body to spring, and then pounced.

At that moment, Buneary had picked off the leaves and tossed the Pecha berry into her mouth. She then smiled and performed a quick hop onward. Zoroark's left claw just barely grazed her right ear, and his face impacted the trunk of the tree dead on.

Buneary stopped for a moment, but didn't turn around. She turned her ears towards Zoroark's direction for a moment, then quickly hopped on her way.

Zoroark slid down the side of the tree and laid on the ground on his stomach. He grimaced furiously, and growled as he angrily dug his claws into the ground. His grimace was suddenly replaced by a look of surprise as his eyes widened a bit. He looked down at his right claw, and clenched it, the three red nails biting deeper into the soil. Then, with a mighty tug, he pulled something out of the ground in a small burst of dirt.

Zoroark held the object up, peering intently at it. It appeared to a sphere, covered in dirt. He gently brushed some of the dirt off of the surface of the sphere, and the object was revealed to be half white and half red, with a black stripe around it. He gave the object a quick sniff, and rotated the object in both claws, slowly becoming more and more interested in it. He soon noticed a small white button on the sphere. Holding it in one claw, Zoroark carefully pressed the button with a claw nail. Immediately, red energy flowed out of the sphere, surrounded him, and pulled him into it.

The ball landed on the ground, it's button blinking red. It shook two times, then popped open, and Zoroark reappeared in a burst of light, wide eyed and in mid gasp. He breathed in and out heavily as he held his torso with his claws. He then took one look at the ball on the ground, and immediately turned and ran, leaping over bushes with his mane trailing behind him. He ducked down behind one of the bushes and pulled his mane down with him.

The bush was still for a few seconds, then it began to occasionally rustle a bit.

Zoroark's slowly raised his head to look nervously over the bush at the ball. He then shakily raised his claw, which held a small stone. He gulped as he flicked the stone at the ball, witch pinged off with no result. Zoroark continued to stare, his nervousness beginning to subside as his gaze became inquisitive. He slowly crawled through the bush and approached the ball. Keeping his distance, he reached a claw out to it. He closed his eyes tightly and turned away, carefully picking up the ball with one claw. He shuddered as he closed his claw around it, and let out a soft sigh and smiled. His ear suddenly twitched at the sound of a soft click. He quickly turned his head to the ball and cried out in terror as red energy surrounded him and pulled him back into the ball.

The ball fell the ground and shook twice again, and then it popped open, re-releasing Zoroark. He shouted out loud as he fell to all four, and he kicked his legs wildly before taking off in a rush. When he kicked his feet, he unintentionally kicked the ball behind him. The ball hit the tree and ricocheted off of it.

Zoroark ran for a bit on all fours, then got back up on his feet and took big striding steps straight forward. He took a leap over some bushes and stuck a strong landing, gasping for breath as he slowly calmed down. However, his ears perked up as he heard a series of clicking sounds. He turned around slowly, just in time to see the ball bounce over the bush and hit him on the forehead.

He was instantly drawn in, but once again burst out after it shook two times. Zoroark stood over the ball and roared with all his might. He then raised his right foot as high as he could and stomped down on the ball as hard as he could. This was followed by a loud clicking sound as the red energy pulled him in again.

The second he was out of the ball and up on his feet, Zoroark roared in a mixture of fear and fury as he quickly grabbed the ball and threw it with all his might. He then turned and began briskly walking in the opposite direction, taking a very deep breath and letting it out as he tried to force a smile. He was unaware that the ball ricocheted off of two trees at just the right angles to come back and strike him on the right side of his face, pulling him in again as he stumbled to one side from the blow.

When he broke out again, Zoroark tottered dizzily, and then fell flat onto the ground. In the very next moment, he stood up quickly and, while emitting a series of desperate, panic-stricken cries, kicked the ball away with all his might, then took off again on all fours. He looked behind him as he ran, only to soon run right into the side of the base of a cliff. He grabbed the side of cliff to pull himself up and steady himself, and began to laugh brokenly in exhausted relief. He turned around and put his back to the cliff-side, and let himself slide down into a sitting position on his rear. He closed his eyes for a moment, but then his eyes shot open as his ears twitched towards his front. Fear was evident in his eyes as he stared into the forest before him. His pupils shrank as he saw the ball bounce out of the woods at him. Zoroark shouted as he backed up against the cliff-side, digging his claws into the wall behind him as he bent his knees.

The ball stopped bouncing and slowly began to roll towards him. Zoroark shook his head frantically as his breathing became labored and fearful. He brought his feet close together as he tried to make himself as small as possible. His eyes went wider than ever as the ball rolled closer to his feet. The ball came within a centimeter of Zoroark's feet, when it finally stopped rolling.

Staring at the ball with his mouth wide open, Zoroark slowly slid to one side until he was away from it. Then he got up and was about to tear through the nearby bushed, when he came to an abrupt halt. On the other side of the bush, Zoroark spotted Buneary picking some flowers. He stared at her for a moment, then ducked down behind the bush. He then took a glance at the ball. He breathed slowly, his eyes darting back and forth as he looked around in thought. Then a sly, confident smirk spread across his face, and he let out a laughing growl.

Zoroark crept rather quickly towards the Pokeball, and he held his claw over it. Making note of where the button was, he carefully picked it up and crept back to the bushes. He gripped the ball tightly in his claw, got himself ready, then sprang up and threw the ball. It collided with the back of Buneary's head, causing her to cry out and stumble forward before she was bulled into the ball. The ball shook three times, then released a burst of sparkles and was still.

Zoroark jumped out from behind the bush and roared in triumph, jumping around the ball in victory. He stopped to rub his claws together and lick his lips hungrily. He then scooped up the ball and twisted it. He frowned as he twisted the two halves of the ball, but they didn't seem to move.

Zoroark crouched down as he put all his weight into twisting the two halves apart.

* * *

Zoroark banged a stone hard against the ball repeatedly, getting more and more frustrated each time.

* * *

Zoroark grabbed a stick and stabbed the ball with it.

* * *

Zoroark stood holding the ball out in front of him at arm's length. He looked down sadly as his stomach as it gurgled in hunger. He frowned in frustration, then looked out in determination over the edge of the cliff before him. He leaned over the edge, about to toss the ball off the side, when a loud cracking and crumbling sound ran out. Zoroark looked down and saw that the ledge he was standing on was starting to crumble. Zoroark cried out and was about to turn, when the entire ledge crumbled away sending him off the side of the cliff.

There was a tremendous crash, and when the dust settled, Zoroark was partially buried under a head of rubble. Zoroark gave a loud shaky breath, but was caught of guard when the ball bounced off of his snout and landed in front of him. The ball opened up, releasing Buneary. She blinked and stared at Zoroark in surprise. Then she gave a smirk nearly as sly as his.

As Zoroark looked on in dismay, Buneary twirled around and gave the ball a powerful kick, sending it off into the distance. She then turned away from him and hopped away.

Zoroark only silently blinked at the receding figure. Then, when she was out of sight, Zoroark sighed as he wormed his way out of the rubble heap and stalked away into the forest.


	4. Flashlight Freeze Tag- Sawsbuck

**Poké Beat**

 **Flashlight Freeze Tag**

The moon shone down on the forest in the cool, quiet night. There was a rustling of leaves, and stepping through the greenery was a Summer Sawsbuck, his antlers filled with green leaves. He stepped underneath the tree canopies, over the bushes, looking left and right as he walked with a majestic air to him.

Sawsbuck's hooves moved smoothly over the forest floor, but then crossed over to a hard, black surface. His hooves clip clopped across the hard ground as he walked over to the forest on the opposite side. However, when Sawsbuck was about three fourths of the way across the black area, a rumbling sound reached his ears and caused him to stop.

He turned in the sound's direction, and something large turned around the distant corner. Two beams of light shone out from it and fell upon him. His eyes widened as the source of the lights approached him. He was frozen in place as the distance between him and the object got smaller and smaller. His nose twitched as the speed of his breathing got faster and faster. Then there was a loud scrapping sound, and the large metal vehicle skidded to an abrupt halt a mere foot away from Sawsbuck.

At that very moment, an LED flashlight was flung out of the open window of the car from the force of the sudden stop.

Loud honking came from the car as it's engine purred. However, Sawsbuck still didn't move a hoof. The honking continued for a few more seconds. When Sawsbuck didn't respond, the car backed up a bit, and then turned to drive around the Pokemon.

The instant the beams of light no longer shone on him, Sawsbuck fearfully gasped for breath and leapt off of the road and into the forest. Once he was within the woods, Sawsbuck stopped to catch his breath as his eyes darted around fearfully. Once his breath was fully caught, he nodded affirmatively to himself, then carried himself proudly as he walked deeper into the woods. He was unaware of the flashlight in the trees above him, which was rolling across some branches, balanced precariously on the branches it moved across, moving from tree to tree.

Sawsbuck walked through a collection of trees that were close together. Suddenly, in midstep, Sawsbuck stopped. He looked down at the glossy, waxy, three leafed plants he was standing in. His eyes widened, and he bent his knees with the intention of quickly jumping out of the poison ivy, when the LED flashlight finally fell out of the trees and hit him on the head right between his antlers. Sawsbuck's eyes followed the flashlight as it bounced off of his head and landed on a nearby pile of rocks. The flashlight teetered on a small rock, and the flashlight's button was pressed, sending out a flood of light right at Sawsbuck's face.

Sawsbuck's eyes went wide as he froze in place, staring into the bright light. He stood there, completely still for a while. Then, his legs began to shake. Sawsbuck's nose twitched violently as his eyes began to move around a bit. His trembling legs brushed against the poison ivy a bit more. Sawsbuck's teeth clenched as he stood captivated by the bright light. He breathed in and out loudly through his nostrils, suffering beginning to become evident in his eyes.

At that moment, the flashlight finally rolled off of the rock it was balanced on, and hit against another rock which turned the flashlight's powerful LED's off.

Sawsbuck let out a loud bawl as he sprang up from his position in an epic jump and landed a few feet away from his original position. He landed on his side and thrashed his thin legs around on the ground, rubbing them together and dragging them along the ground. He did this for a quite a while, then stopped due to exhaustion, and lay there breathing heavily.

During his thrashing, Sawsbuck had kicked the flashlight, sending off in a random direction. Sawsbuck paid no mind to it as he lay there, staring down as his legs, which were afire with itches. Then, a sudden idea struck him, and he shakily got to his legs and started to run, occasionally stopping to rub his legs together.

Before long, Sawsbuck had arrived at a large lake. A look of relief passed across his face, and he quickly ran to the water and jumped in, making a tremendous splash. Meanwhile, the flashlight, which was waterproof, fell out of the tree it got kicked into, bounced off the soft ground, and splashed into the lake right behind Sawsbuck.

Under the surface of the lake, Sawsbuck closed his eyes and shuddered in relief as he felt the coolness of the water against his legs. He spun around a bit under the water, enjoying the cool touch as he held his breath, then he opened his eyes and looked up to swim up to the surface. At that moment, the flashlight sunk to the bottom of the lake, and landed on it's button, sending a flood of light through the water and right at Sawsbuck.

With wide eyes, Sawsbuck legs stopped moving, and he slowly sunk to the bottom of the lake as well. With his nostrils closed tightly and his mouth shut, Sawsbuck looked right into the flashlight. His ears twitched wildly as his eyes darted around as much as they could. He made soft, panic stricken noises as he stood in an awkward position on the bottom of the lake.

Then, with a slight trembling in his neck, which slowly spread to his body, and then down to his legs, Sawsbuck suddenly jerked forward. Then, his front left leg snapped out straight in front of him. Then, he dug his leg into the bottom of the lake. With his eyes directed slightly downward at his front left leg, Sawsbuck pulled himself along the lake bed wit his on operable leg. In a few seconds, he reached the flashlight, and kicked at it with his working leg. The flashlight was sent spinning and rolling to one side, it's light turning away from Sawsbuck.

Sawsbuck immediately flailed his legs to swim upwards to the lake surface. When he broke the surface, he took a huge gasp of air and desperately swam for the shore. He lay on the ground, on his side, and breathed in and out several times. Once he adequately recovered, he got up and looked around nervously, walking nervously along and away from the lake.

* * *

Sawsbuck kept his nervous, hunched over and looking around skittishly. He was completely unaware of his surroundings, his recent memories filling his mind. Suddenly, there was a huge burst of light, and Sawsbuck's neck shot up as he looked up at a security light mounted on the side of a Park Ranger Station. To the left of Sawsbuck was the back of a long truck loaded with golf carts.

Sawsbuck snorted in frustration as breath rushed out of his nostrils. He gnashed his teeth repeatedly as anger built up within him. Then, a loud creaking sound reached his ears. He forced his left eye to turn to the side, and it widened just a bit bigger when he noticed the the rope holding the rear golf cart in place was frayed and breaking, and the golf cart was teetering on the edge, moments away from falling.

Sawsbuck's mouth opened to lead out a terrified scream, and he clenched his teeth as he moved his neck from side to side, his knees trembling as he tired to move his legs. The creaking sound of the rope breaking got louder, causing Sawsbuck to thrash his neck with more force. Then he could hear the sound of the golf cart creaking as it began to tilt backwards over him. Sawsbuck let out a tremendous bawl of utter terror, and he felt his legs throw his body to the side just as he heard the rope snap loudly.

The golf cart crashed as it his the ground, right where Sawsbuck was a moment ago. Sawsbuck lay on the ground about a yard away, on his side and laying still as the security light finally turned off.

Sawsbuck slowly got to his feet, his chest heaving up and down as he looked around then looked at his own legs. His eyes lit up with realization, and he took a few tentative steps into the range of the security light. The light flash on, illuminating the area again, and Sawsbuck stared at it. Breathing in out through his mouth, Sawsbuck began to prance in place. Then he crouched down and stood back up a few times. He then gained a big smile of satisfaction, and turned away from the light, waving his tail mockingly at it.

Laughing joyfully, Sawsbuck pranced and leapt away into the forest without a care in the world.


	5. Clear as Mud- Absol

**Poké Beat**

 **Clear as Mud**

The warm afternoon Sun shone down upon the forest through a break in the grey clouds. It's warming rays shone down on a clifftop where an Absol was lounging. Absol smoothly alternated between licking her right forepaw and using it to clean the ruff of fur on her chest.

When she was through, she slowly got up and stood on all four paws. She turned away from the edge of the cliff towards the forest, standing so that the Sun's rays could warm her back. She turned her head to her left and lifted her left hind leg, carefully expecting the left side of her body. Once she was satisfied, Absol then repeated this action with her right side. Absol smiled proudly as she gave her head a toss, shifting her body as well so that her white and clean ruff of chest fur could flow and puff out slightly in the afternoon air. Absol then walked confidently off into the forest.

* * *

Absol kept her smile as she walked on under the pleasantly cool shade of the trees. She looked around at the flowers and foliage around her, and then up at the bright green leaves above. She continued on like this for a moment, then stopped suddenly when she head the sound of a soft splash. Absol looked around, searching for the source of the noise, then she blinked and slowly directed her vision downwards. She soon saw the small dark puddle her left forepaw had stepped in. Absol carefully lifted her paw out of the water, staring at it as a few drops of the less than clean water fell from her sharp claws.

She made a sound of disgust as she held her now brownish-grey, rather than white, paw away from her and turned her head from it. She shook it forcefully, as if to try and shake the gritty water out of her's paw's fur, backing up as she did so. She stopped dead in her tracks when she head another soft splash. She closed her eyes and slowly turned to look behind her, and then opened her eyes to see her right hindpaw in another small puddle.

Absol immediately jumped to the side, crying out in despair, and then lifted her right hindleg high as she shook it as hard as she could, sending a few drops of dirty water flying behind her. As she did this, her front right leg began to tremble slightly. Absol then turned front and craned her neck to take a look at her legs. At the moment, she had her front left and rear right legs off the ground, and was supporting herself with her remaining two legs.

Absol lifted her head back up, and extended her tail behind her for balance. She then took a deep breath, bent the knees of her clean legs, and began to awkwardly hop sideways. She slowly made her way towards a large tree. Breathing heavily, she carefully leaned against it and rested for a moment. She closed her eyes and let herself become lost in thought for a moment. Her mind's eyes picture a still lake of clean, crystal water. She was herself dipping her dirty paw into it, then quickly taking it out, now pure white and clean as she wiggled her claws freely.

Absol chuckled softly as she smiled at the thought, still with her eyes closed. She was then taken out of her fantasy when a drop of water landed on her small black nose. She opened her eyes, blinking them a bit, and was suddenly surprised by the boom of thunder. She was soon able to hear the sound of rain against the tree tops and leaves. As rain fell down on the ground before her, Absol fearfully hugged the tree trunk as thunder boomed and the rain came down even harder.

* * *

The rain eventually passed, and the Sun shone down once again on the forest, coming through in beams the pierced the leaf canopy above. Absol listened hard for the sound of rain, and peered upwards through the leaves in search of rain clouds. Soon she was sure that the rains were gone, and she looked out over the large area of moist ground before her. Absol looked around, and found a small berry sized stone next to her. Picking it up with her long, sharp claws, Absol gently tossed the stone out before her. She watched as the stone plopped into the ground, sending a splash of dark, think mud out for it.

Absol gasped as she took several steps back out of reflex, her rump pushing hard into the tree as she did so. She stood breathing heavily for a moment, then she turned her head to tree and looked at it. Absol then turned her entire body around and climbed up the side of the tree, her claw digging right into it. She then grabbed onto a adequately sized branch and began to walk across it. Absol nodded excitedly, smiling hopefully, and was about halfway along the branch when it promptly snapped and fell down onto the muddy ground.

There was a large outward splash of mud around her when she and the branch hit the ground. Absol quickly caught her breath and looked herself over. She saw that her body had not caught any of the mud, and a look of relief crossed her face. She then looked down at her legs, and cried out in horror when she saw that all four of her paws were hock deep in the mud.

Her jaw dropped and her body stiff with shock, Absol blinked as er eyes darted back and forth. She forced herself to snap out of her shock and then clenched her teeth as she pulled her left paws out of the mud with a pop. She then strained as she struggled to free her right paws, and then pulled them out of the mud with a mighty lurch. This nearly threw Absol off balance and sent her teetering dangerously on the left edge of the branch. Desperately throwing her weight to her right, Absol quickly regained her balance and clung to the branch with her four muddy paws.

Absol looked down at the enormous mud hole disdainfully, then her eyes widened as she realized that the branch was starting to sink into the mud. She looked up, desperately scanning the branches above. Then, pushing off quickly with her legs, she propelled herself upwards in a desperate leap. She reached out with her forelegs and grabbed onto a vine that grew across a gap between two branches. She hung onto the thick stem, her body swinging freely like a pendulum as she wrapped her forelegs around the vine.

Absol kicked her hindlegs vigorously as she tried again and again to pull her body up. Eventually she gave a defeated sigh and rested her chin on the vine. The vine snapped loudly as it broke at a point behind her, and she hung on tightly, yelling and scrambling up the vine as much as she could as the vine swung downwards at an angle towards the mud below her.

The vine swung forward a feet before snapping again, and the momentum threw Absol right into a dead tree trunk. Absol was spread eagled against the tree, her left cheek pushed against the tree bark. She hung against the trunk for a moment, then tightly gripped it with her legs, hanging on for dear life. She turned her head to look behind her, and she noticed a long line cut into the mud behind her, leading right to where she was then. Absol then looked down further, and saw that her tail was stuck deep in the mud. She pulled her tail out of the mud with a mighty tug, and then gave a moan when she saw that her tail was completely caked in mud.

Absol hung her head and whimpered, but was suddenly brought back to awareness when the entire trunk suddenly lurched backwards. The rotting hollow tree trunk leaned closer towards the mud, and Absol soon felt her rump dip into the mud. She cried out and swung herself around the hollow trunk just as it landed in the mud. Her hind legs were thrown out behind her as she tried to dig her foreclaws into the short log, but all the mud covering her paws prevented her from actually digging her claws into the wood. At that exact moment, the log rolled backwards, sending Absol into a forepaw stand. She cried out as she tried to balance herself atop the rolling log, and the movement of her forepaws sent the log rolling backwards.

The mud prevented her from getting a grip as she kept slipping and sliding on the surface of the log as it rolled along over the mud. The log rolled through the forest, and Absol's legs kept getting whipped at by overhanging branches. She directed her eyes forward from her upside-down position, and gave a yell as she quickly approached a ledge. The log, with Absol on it, rolled off the ledge and sent her flipping off and into the air. The log splashed down into another mud hole, and Absol flailed her limbs as she fell down towards the hollow log. Thinking quickly, Absol brought her arms and legs close to her body as she directed her decent right down into the hollow log.

Absol landed hindlegs first in the log, her body wedging tightly within, with only her head sticking out of the top. Absol took a few seconds to take in several deep breath, then made an attempt at wrenching her body out of the log. She clenched her teeth and strained as hard as she could, but she soon found that she couldn't move a centimeter.

Absol pouted in a clearly fed-up manner, and she closed her eyes as she nodded her head slowly. Her breathing was steady as she focused on her thoughts, then she opened her eyes and looked up at her horn. A light blue ball of energy with light blue sparks of electricity surrounding it appeared on the tip of her horn. Then, two wormholes opened up on either side of the ball. Blasts of electrified psychic energy were then fired from the ball and into the wormholes. Then, the wormholes vanished.

Absol gave a sigh as waited patiently, moving her head from side to side. After a few seconds, Absol began to become impatient as she growled lowly, and ever began to struggle within the log again. Then, her impatience gave way to panic as she finally noticed that the log had leaned forward a bit, putting her at a 45 degree angle. Not only that, she and the log were slowly sinking into the mud. She struggled harder, trying to push herself up out of the log. Half of the log was already beneath the mud at it's jaunty angle, and Absol was desperately searching around for some form of escape.

She pulled her head into her shoulders as the log started to sink to a level where the mud would be at her chin, and was about to cry out again, when she heard the sound of the two wormholes reappearing on either side of the log. Absol nodded her head enthusiastically as her Future Sight attack activated, firing the blasts physic energy out at the log, causing a huge explosion that smashed the wood and sent Absol flying out of the mud hole.

Absol soared over the forest like a rocket, the wind blowing through her ruff of fur, and landed horn first into the ground like a massive dart.

She stood stiff, frozen, and upside-down for a couple of fast heartbeats, then slowly placed her muddy forepaws on the ground as she tried to pull her horn out of the ground. She pushed and pulled with all her might, even turning around in a circle several times. Eventually, she scratched at the ground in frustration, which did nothing because of all the mud on her paws, then gave a loud growl as she narrowed her eyes in concentration. A second later, several white slashes of energy burst from the ground as a result of Absol's Razor Wind attack, which came from her currently underground horn.

Absol laughed confidently as prepared to pull her horn out of the ground, but she stopped when she saw all the cracks that were forming around her. Absol didn't move a muscle. She simply stood as still as she possibly could as she stared down at the unstable ground. Then, a globule of mud dripped off of a claw on her left rear hindleg. It landed right on Absol's nose, and she looked right at it as it rolled off and hit the ground. The cracks then spread further, and the ground gave way in a cloud of dust and dirt. There was also the sound of a very loud splash a second afterwards.

When the dust settled, and Absol could open her eyes, she looked to find herself up to her neck in yet another mud hole that formed from the recent downpour. Absol stared down at the mud, and with a look of pure dread, forced her way through the mud towards solid ground.

Absol pulled herself out of the mud hole and gave herself a looking over, turning her head and lifting each one of her legs. She sighed as took in the completeness of the mud's coverage, and looked up somberly as mud from her horn dripped into the tuft of hair on the left side of her head. She her hung her head in shame and started to walk, not looking where she was going. Suddenly, her paw was met with thin air and she promptly fell forward, rolling down a steep hill and off a ledge, where she landed with another splash. This time, the splash came from the crystal clear waters of a lake.

Absol came up a few feet away at the lake-shore, and climbed up onto dry land. She shook her whole body, trying in vain to rid herself of the water soaking her fur and making it long and heavy. She sighed, and then turned to look at the lake. She nearly jumped in surprise when she spotted her reflection. She got closer and gave it a good looking over. The fur covering her body looked sleeker and shinier than usual, and the fur covering her chest and the tuft on her head looked cleaner and fuller than ever before.

Feeling a new a whole new level of satisfaction she had never felt before, Absol smiled brightly, her eyes lit up in amazement, and she began to lift each of her legs and pose before her reflection as the evening Sun shone down on her.


	6. Dig Dug Dog- Mightyena

**Poké Beat**

 **Dig Dug Dog**

The tall grass and shook as a figure made it's way through it. The figure kept low to the ground as it ran, pushing down the grass in front of it to form a long trail through the grassland. Eventually, a Mightyena came out of the area of tall dark green grass. In his mouth he held a Rare Bone, and he held onto it tightly. He took a quick glance around before continuing on his way.

Mightyena ran up to where the grassland met some woods thick with trees. He stepped up to one of the trees and looked up at it, nodding in satisfaction. He then placed his Rare Bone down to the side, looked down between two visible tree roots, and began to dig into the ground. He kicked the dirt out behind him as he made a small tunnel that went down and forward at an angle. Half of the length of his body was within the hole when a loud creaking noise assaulted Mightyena's ears. He stopped digging when he hear the sound, and after a moment of listening to it he quickly turned around his sleek furry body and stuck his head out of the hole. He turned to face the tree, and his face collapsed into a frown as his ears and tail fell limp. His eyes focused on the large plant as it fell towards him, and he yelped as he covered his face and head the best he could with his forepaws as the tree crashed down upon him.

When the echoes of the crash finally subsided, Mightyena took his forepaws away and opened his eyes. He blinked as he tilted his head back in forth, surprised to be virtually untouched. However, he could hardly see a thing. He lifted his head up a bit higher out of the hole, only to hit his head on something. Barking in annoyance, he looked up and around as he slowly came to the realization that he was within a tree hollow, commonly used as a home by a Noctowl or HootHoot.

Mightyena sniffed loudly, and then put his weight against the left side of the cavity, trying to force the tree to roll. When the tree didn't budge, he attempted to roll it to the right, but this didn't work either. With a frustrated growl, Mightyena scratched at the side of the cavity, then quickly gave up and fell flat on his stomach with a sorry whine.

He turned his eyes to the ground, then barked with renewed vigor as he quickly sprang up on all fours and walked down into the hole he had dug earlier. Mightyena then dug further, this time upward at an angle. Soon, Mightyena popped his head out of a small hole in the dirt and took a long satisfying breath of fresh air. His forepaws burst out of the ground on either side of head, and he stood on the tips of the toes of his hindpaws as he tried to pull himself up and out.

As Mightyena panted heavily, the ground around him started to become more and more loose, crumbly, and unstable. There was a loud crumbling sound beneath him as he felt the ground disappear from beneath his hindpaws. He grabbed in vain at the collapsing ground with his forepaws, and let out a loud frightened howl as he fell down into a deep sinkhole.

He landed with a thud at the bottom, dirt sprinkling lightly on top of him as he lay on top of even more dirt. Mightyena shakily got up on his feet and looked around at the relatively narrow shaft. He made a leap to the wide open hole above him, digging his claws into the dirt walls. He dug his claws as deep as he could as he pulled his own body-weight up the side of the hole. Growling and grunting with exertion, Mightyena slowly but surely pulled himself up to the top of the hole. He clung to the ground above with his foreclaws so hard that his hindclaws popped out of the side of the hole. He kicked his hindlegs wildly as he tried to pull himself out of the hole.

As he closed his eyes tightly as he tried to pull himself up, Mightyena's nose twitched as it caught a certain scent. He opened his eyes and looked over to see his Rare Bone lying on the ground nearby, having been slightly jostled by the force of the tree falling and the sink hole collapsing. Eyes wide and locked on the bone, Mightyena panted enthusiastically with his tongue lolling out. He ripped his claws from the ground and thrusted his forepaws forwards at the bone, only to realize that his forepaws where a few feet away from the Rare Bone. As his paws few down limp to the ground, Mightyena noticed that his body began to slip an inch at a time. He clenched his teeth as his pupils got smaller, and in the next moment he slipped off the edge and fell back down into the hole, landing on top of the dirt pile on his back.

Mightyena's legs stood up stiff and locked for a moment, then they relaxed as Mightyena rolled over on his side. Growling in frustration again, Mightyena looked up at the hole above him and took several deep sniffs. He then faced in what he felt the direction of the bone was, and started digging into the wall of the hole. He moved his paws fast as he tore through dirt as quickly as possible. He quickly moved forwards, then began to change his direction to upwards. Before long, his path was moving straight up. He continued this, his face the very image of focus, until his left forepaw struck rock. He froze for a second, then howled in pain as he shook his left forepaw hard, whimpering as he stared at it. He placed touched the ground with it gently several times, and then carefully put his full weight back on it.

He tilted his head at the dirt in front of him, and gently scratched at it with his forepaws. He then turned around a wagged his tail as fast as it would go, brushing away at the wall before him. After a long moment of this, Mightyena turned around, only to react in disbelief and dismay when he saw a blockade of several large rocks wedged together in a kind of mosaic pattern. His dismay gave way to fury as he barked and snarled hatefully at the barrier. However, at that moment, some dirt crumbled down onto his nose, revealing a small hole that was a few square inches wide. Mightyena gazed in interest at the unexpected hole that had opened up, which sent a small beam of light down at him.

Mightyena's red nose, and then the top of his snout, popped up above ground and took in several breaths of fresh air. It then took a few deep, thoughtful sniffs, and then turned in the direction of the Rare Bone. Mightyena forced his mouth open a bit and let out a few gruff barks and growls, and wagged his tongue around as his nose sniffed desperately in the Rare Bone's direction.

Mightyena's snout disappeared down into the tiny hole. There were several moments of furious digging. Then, right where the Rare Bone lay, there was a burst of dirt and soil that sent the Rare Bone straight up into the air. Mightyena wedged his head up out of the small hole and looked up. He opened his mouth wide and caught the Rare Bone as it fell back down. Mightyena's ears stood up in joy as he laughed to himself, his jaws clamped tightly on the bone.

At that moment, as Mightyena was kicking his hind legs happily, the dirt promptly gave way from beneath his hindpaws. Mightyena's eyes widened as he felt nothing below him. With his limbs still underground, he pulled his legs and tail close to his body as the ground in front of him and behind him also gave way. He was hanging in the middle of large fissure that had opened up in the ground, and branching that fissure was the Rare Bone.

With his jaws clamped as tightly as they could on the Rare Bone, Mightyena simply hung there, fear evident in his eyes and body language. Then, chancing an attempt at a deep breath with the Rare Bone in his mouth, Mightyena began to swing his body by his jaws. He swung back and forth, gaining momentum and height every time. Then, when his height and speed were as great as he dared to let them go, Mightyena swung himself up into the air in an aerial somersault, and then miraculously landed on all fours on solid ground ahead of the fissure.

Bright eyes and bushy tailed, Mightyena quickly caught his breath and laughed happily, only to freeze when he realized that he no longer held the Rare Bone in his jaws. He dropped down low and sniffed the ground desperately, then whined and hung his head sadly. At that moment, the Rare Bone fell down and hit Mightyena on the head. It bounced off of his head, rolled down his back, and fell towards the fissure.

Not needing to turn around to figure out what was happening, Mightyena let out a scream and performed a donkey kick, lashing out with his hindlegs and clamping his hindpaws around the Rare Bone. At the very moment he had the Rare Bone in his grasp, Mightyena threw himself forward onto a frontpaw stand, and then fell forwards and landed on his back, releasing the Rare Bone. He quickly got up and quickly clamped his jaw around it, whimpering softly as he lay still with his eyes closed.

Mightyena soon stood back up and hastily made his way away from the area.

* * *

Mightyena made his way to a patch of dirt in the grassland. He mouth arched into a smile as he surveyed the area, and he placed the Rare Bone down next to him and took a step towards the patch of dirt. He froze in mid step, then turned back and picked the Rare Bone back up in his mouth. Then he walked over to the dirt patch and raised a paw to start digging. Again, Mightyena froze in the middle of his action, and turned and took several steps away from the spot. Then, he carefully walked backwards, a very nervous look on his face. He raised his right hindleg and extended it back towards the spot. His leg trembled as he stretched it as far as he could, and then slowly lowered it towards the ground. Then, he lightly touched his right hindpaw to the center of the dirt patch.

The ground gave way within a 4 foot radius of where Mightyena's paw touched the ground. Mightyena attempted to spring away, but the collapsing ground caught his left hindleg and pulled him back towards the hole. Scrambling and fearful, Mightyena scratched at the moving earth and fought against the forces pulling him back. Then, with a grunt of exertion, he threw himself forward and into the nearby tall grass.

He lay there, just breathing for a moment. Then, he slowly got up and looked down sadly at the Rare Bone he still held in his teeth. Then, his eyes, ears, and tail seemed to regain a new life as an idea occurred to him. Mightyena turned and walked carefully towards the hole that had opened up. Then, with one quick motion, he tossed the Rare Bone into the hole. He quickly turned and ran after performing the action, and seconds later there was the sound of the Rare Bone hitting the bottom, which was then followed by the sound of soil moving. The side of the hole cracked and crumbled, and in an instead, the hole had collapsed in on itself and filled itself in.

Mightyena sauntered back towards the filled in hole, looking very pleased with himself. He then sat upon the now still soil on his haunches, patted the ground three with his tail, then got up and sauntered away into the tall grass, wearing a smile of fulfillment and victory.


	7. Buizeling One's Way Out- Buizel

**Poké Beat**

 **Buizeling One's Way Out**

The Sun made the mirror-like surface of the lake sparkle and shine. The lake was very vast, and quite deep as well. The water was crystal clear itself, yet perfectly reflected the clear blue sky above on its surface.

At a spot in the lake, a Buizel burst out of the water and flipped up into the air, before splashing back down into the water. He came back to the surface and rested on his back, smiling in satisfaction as he slowly paddled himself backwards with his feet. He moved like this for a few feet, then turned himself over and dived back beneath the surface.

Underwater, Buizel swam gracefully and speedily, the lake bed moving fast under him. He twirled around as he shot through the water like a torpedo, his twin tails spinning like a propeller to propel him along. He twirled and sped through the water without a care in the world, lost in his own blissful thoughts. Then he struck something metallic and unyielding, head first.

The shock of it knocked the wind right out of him, which took the form of a veritable cloud of bubbles that quickly rose up to the surface. Buizel clutched at his throat and gagged a bit, and then quickly swam straight up to the surface. Once his head was above the water, he gulped in lung-fulls of air and steadied his breathing. He then gave a curious glance down into the water below, and looked across to see that he was close to the lake shore. With an inquisitive expression on his face, Buizel took another deep breath of air, filling his lungs with as much as he could, and then dived back down beneath the water.

Buizel swam down to look at what he had hit his head on. He looked quizzically at the long metal cylinder that stuck out from the nearly vertical lake wall. Cocking his head, Buizel swam close to the flat, circular wire screen that closed off the tube. The metal tube looked relatively new, and still quite shiny. It also had human writing on it as well.

Buizel got closer to the round screen, peering into the inner darkness of the tube. Then, a loud clanking sound caught Buizel's attention, causing him to move in closer to the screen. He suddenly noticed that his fur was waving a bit towards the opening of the tube. He then found himself pulled straight into the wire screen, spread eagled across the wire screen.

Eyes widened with surprise as he lay pinned against the screen by the pipe's suction, Buizel pushed hard against the screen with his paws and feet. He gave a forceful push, and briefly popped off of the screen, only to be sucked back in and held with the left half of his body forced against the screen. With frustration in his eyes, Buizel pushed hard against the flow with his left arm and leg, and gave a vigorous shove which once again made him pop off, only to be pulled back by the pipe again, this time on his right side. So, again, Buizel pushed himself off, and this time was briefly spun around and pulled in with his back to the screen.

Still holding on to his several minutes of air, Buizel furrowed his brow in concentration as he put all his strength in pushing himself away from the pipe's suction. Buizel arched his back off of the screen, extending his limbs as far as he could as his tails were still stuck against the screen. Then, right at the peak of his exertion, Buizel was snapped backwards into the screen, which spun around fast and sent Buizel straight into the pipe.

Buizel shot through the pipe like a missile, his heart pounding and his eyes wide as he was pulled along by the strong suction. He was pulled along sharp turns, up sudden bends, and down unexpected dips. After nearly a solid two minutes of zooming through the pipe, Buizel saw light ahead, which appeared to be an opening to the pipe line. Buizel's eyes lit up and he nodded his head eagerly as he approached the exit, then he stopped abruptly and without warning. Buizel blinked and looked around him, finally noticing that the pipe line had gotten narrower throughout his traveling, and that the section of pipe leading to the end was the narrowest. At that point, he was wedged tightly within the pipe.

Buizel wiggled his body vigorously as he tried to free himself. He kicked his feet and twirled his tails in an attempt to force himself forward, but he was unable to move an inch. His eyes bulged as he continued to hold his breath, and his eyes twitched in panic as he looked around fearfully. He felt the gentle current of the water flow across his back and stomach through the gaps his body still left in the pipe. This gave him an idea for a last ditch effort. Closing his eyes, Buizel filled his yellow flotation sac, making it as big as he could. The air filled sac completely closed off the pipe, and Buizel could already feel the pressure build up behind him. Then, just as his body began to shake as it began begging for air, the pressure behind Buizel reached it's height, and Buizel was forced out of the pipe as if he were shot out of a canon.

Buizel was shot into a large, bowl shaped reservoir at such high speeds that he slid right up the side of the curved wall and straight up into the air. Buizel used this opportunity to take several gulps of air, sighing in relief as he refilled his lungs. Then he looked down and gave a cry of fear as he fell straight back down, splashing back into the reservoir, and hitting the bottom, head first. His flotation sac filled instinctively, and his unconscious form floated back up to the surface.

* * *

A loud rumbling sound caused Buizel to wake up and open his eyes. He sat up quickly and turned to see a large human vehicle driving away from him on a nearby road next to the woods. Buizel touched the ground with his paws, and he felt rocks and sand. Buizel looked down on the ground, then turned to see the crystal clear lake a few feet away. Buizel leapt up to his feet and cheered. He ran towards the water, but froze a few inches away from it. He stared unblinkingly at the water, then he took a deep breath an inflated his flotation sac. Then he carefully wadded into the lake, allowing his sac to keep him afloat with his head above the water. With a sigh of relief, Buizel calmly paddled himself through the water, a look of peace and tranquility on his face.


	8. Watch Your Step- Riolu

**Poké Beat**

 **Watch Your Step**

As early morning sunshine shone down through the trees, Riolu walked through the forest stretching and yawning. Scratching behind his ears, Riolu took a look up at the trees above. Then, he sprang up and grabbed onto a tree limb, climbing up onto it and balancing steadily. Riolu walked along the thin branch, his arms held out far on either side of him to keep him balanced, and as he reached the thinner end of the branch, Riolu ran the last few steps and jumped. He somersaulted in mid air and stuck the landing perfectly, posing and bowing for his imaginary audience.

With a satisfied smile, Riolu took a step forward, but then found that he wasn't able to take a second step. Looking confused, Riolu leaned forward a bit and tried to take another step. He strained a bit as he tried to pull his body forwards, but something was holding him back. Concerned, Riolu turned around and looked behind him. Then he directed his vision downwards. He then saw that his left foot had sunken about an inch below the ground, with all three toes hidden beneath the earth.

Riolu stared oddly at his foot, then frowned as he gripped his left leg with both paws. He then gave his leg a tug, only to find that his leg wouldn't move at all. Getting frustrated, Riolu grabbed his leg tighter and pulled harder. He kept it up for a few seconds, then let out a gasp of exhaustion and fell flat on his stomach. He took several deep breaths, then rolled on his back and began pulling on his left leg from the position. He soon gave up after a moment of this, and lay on his back as he sadly looked up at the trees and sky and above him.

Riolu frowned with frustration, then rolled over back onto his stomach. He then extended his left arm out and slammed the bony bump on the back of his wrist into the ground. He then repeated the action with his right arm, this time extending his arm a little bit further. Using all his strength to dig into the ground, Riolu slowly pulled himself forward. Centimeter by centimeter, Riolu felt himself covering some ground. He felt his left leg being slowly stretched with every centimeter he covered. Riolu was holding his breath as he willed himself to keep going, to ignore and agonizing stretching his left leg was feeling. Then, right when he felt he couldn't stand it much longer, and he was sure he'd pass out from lack of air, Riolu felt something snap him backwards, carving grooves into the ground as his wrists were dragged backwards along the ground.

Riolu let out a cry as his body was jolted backwards and up into an upright position, and then downward. This all happened in one swift motion, and it left Riolu breathless. When he finally did catch his breath and take in enough oxygen to think clearly, Riolu looked down and gasped. His black left leg had been pulled down into the ground to where it met his blue torso. His right leg was bent out in front of him against the ground, making him look like a one legged Riolu that was sitting on his rear.

Shocked and filled with disbelief, Riolu quickly put his paws against the ground and tried pushing to lift his left leg out of the ground. He thrashed his head around in a panic as he did this, groaning and yelping in a panic as his eyes went wide. He soon used up all his nervous energy, and took a moment to look down at the ground, studying it intensely. Then, he held his paws out in front of him, and placed both of his palms against the ground on either side of his leg. Then, he took about three seconds to concentrate, nodding three times as he did so, and then he used two potent Force Palms against the ground.

In the burst of light and dirt, Riolu felt himself get propelled up into the air. Riolu cried out as he soared straight up with great force, but then was startled again as he suddenly seemed to freeze in mid air. Looking very frightened, Riolu shakily looked downwards, and was surprised to see that he was atop a very long iron pipe that was now directed straight up. Riolu's left leg was jammed right into the mouth of the pipe, and the double Force Palm had ripped the pipe, with his leg still in it, out of the ground, pulling it perfectly straight.

Riolu was now up higher than the trees, around 25 or 30 feet up in the air. As Riolu moved his head to look down at the far off ground, he began to feel the terrifying sensation of himself tipping forward. Riolu screamed and flailed his arms in the opposite direction, but it did nothing to stop his descent. Falling like a tree that had just been chopped down, the long pipe swung Riolu down to Earth, causing him to cover his eyes and tremble as pure fear filled him completely.

There was a loud clanging sound, and Riolu felt himself suddenly halt. Riolu timidly peeked out from behind his paws, and he took his paws away and gasped when he saw the bottom of a deep chasm before him. Riolu craned his neck to look upward, and he saw that the pipe had fallen so that it was hanging few feet over the edge of the chasm.

Gulping loudly, Riolu grabbed onto the pipe, in which his left leg was still stuck in, and began to pull himself up onto it. However, the pipe spun around, causing Riolu to shout. Then the pipe suddenly bent with a snap at a rusted part, and Riolu hung freely over the chasm. There was still a bit of metal where the section of pipe was still connected, causing Riolu to swing like a pendulum.

Riolu hung there with his mouth open for a moment, then took a long deep breath, put his palms together, then let his breath out slowly. He then swung straight backwards in one brave heave, and pushed up against the side of the chasm wall with his paws. Then, focusing his entire being and making his breathing steady, Riolu unleashed another double Force Palm that pushed him off of the wall and up and over into the air, snapping the piece of pipe he was hanging from, and tossing him out of the chasm and onto sold ground.

Riolu took one look around him and gave a cheer. He was about to move forward, but then frowned when he saw that his left leg was still jammed into the short section of pipe. Riolu then unceremoniously fell onto his back, and then tugged at the section of pipe with all his might. Before long, he gave a loud defeated sigh and lay spread eagled on his back. He then raised his paws and looked at them dejectedly. Then, in the very next second, Riolu's face lit up in as an idea suddenly came to him. He lifted his right leg, concentrated, and smiled with delight as the burst of light and energy of a Force Palm flashed out of his right foot.

* * *

Riolu set his left leg, still stuck in the pipe, into a hole he had dug. He then filled the hole with rocks and dirt, and then piled several more rocks on top of it the filled in hole. Riolu then held the part of the pipe was still above ground in the tightness grip he could muster. Then, he took one last shaky breath, and closed his eyes tightly. There was a few seconds of nervous silence and anticipation, then there was a huge burst of dirt and pebbled as Riolu was laughed up into the air. The section of metal pipe clattered to the ground right where Riolu was a moment ago.

As Riolu soared up into the air, he looked over at his left leg and gasped when he saw it was free. He grabbed his leg and smiled with delight, and he licked it a couple of times. But then he froze as his eyes slowly turned downward to see the ground below him. Riolu screamed as fell down fast through the air and landed onto a moderately steep slope, quickly sliding down it on his belly, albeit now beginning to steadily decelerate from his initial terminal velocity. After a minute of this, Riolu slid off a rock sticking out of the slope, which acted as a makeshift ramp, and then bounced across the ground three time, flipping every time, before finally sticking a perfect landing on his feet on solid ground.

Riolu stood breathing heavily, a nervous look in his eyes as he looked around fearfully. Then, he gave a sigh of utter relief, and lifted his foot to step forward. He suddenly stopped in mid-step and quickly brought both of his feet close together. He then fell down on his chest and nervously touched the surrounding ground. He tapped it with his paws, and sniffed it very carefully. After a moment of this, he gave a satisfied nod. Riolu then stood up tall and took four stiff steps forward. Then he let out one final sigh of relief, and cheerfully walked on his way.


	9. High and Dry- Mudkip

**Poké Beat**

 **High and Dry**

Beside a small wooded area was a little lake of clear water. The mirror-like surface reflected the glistening light of the Sun above. The Sun was especially hot that day, making the air itself extremely uncomfortable to be out in.

Across the surface of the lake swam a happy looking Mudkip. He paddled along, occasionally spinning around in the cool water, looking quite content. Mudkip dipped beneath water briefly and jumped, flipping in midair and landing back into the lake with a splash. Laughing joyfully, Mudkip started to roll as he swam, but suddenly stopped in an upside-down position.

With his belly up and his head underwater, Mudkip looked down at the bottom of the lake. He spotted something sparkling at the bottom. Curious, Mudkip dived down under the water and got a closer look at the object. It turned out to be a Water Stone that was half embedded in the lake bed. The Water Stone sparkled, causing Mudkip's eyes to grow wide, and he "ooohed" with wonder. Possessed with a sudden strong desire for the sparkly object, Mudkip grabbed onto the Water Stone with all four paws and starting pulling. The Water Stone would budge at first, but Mudkip refused to give up, and he took a large breath of water and then gave a very determined tug.

The Water Stone popped out, causing Mudkip to spin around underwater. He quickly righted himself, and smiled happily at the shinny object he now held in his forepaws. However, Mudkip suddenly noticed the small stream of bubbles that were now being pulled downwards right in front of him. Mudkip blinked at the stream, and looked down to see that the bubbled were being pulled down into a hole that the Water Stone previously occupied. Mudkip swam down close to the hole to take a better look, and the fin on his head twitched as he held it close to the hole. His fin began twitching more and more, and then, to Mudkip's shock, the Water Stone was ripped out of his paws by the current and sucked down into the hole.

Letting out a cry of dismay, Mudkip quickly began digging into the lake bottom to retrieve the Water Stone. However, as he dug a much larger hole into the mud and sand, Mudkip stopped suddenly as a loud foreboding sound reached his ears, and the fin on his head jerked upwards. Then, a large vortex suddenly formed right where Mudkip had been digging. Mudkip was immediately caught up in the swirling water. He thrashed around wildly as he spun round and round within the underwater vortex. The water in the small lake was quickly pulled down lower and lower, until finally Mudkip was spun into the moist lake bottom, which was now no longer beneath the water.

Mudkip lay face flat on the sandy ground for a few seconds as he slowly caught his breath. He then shakily got onto his feet and looked around at the empty lake. He looked down and watched as the mud below him quickly turned from a moist dark brown to a dry yellowish-brown. Mudkip lifted up his front left paw and watched as the water dripping from it evaporated before it hit the ground. Mudkip then looked up at the hot Sun above him, which threw its searing heat down on him. Mudkip arched his back uncomfortably as the heat beat down on his normally smooth, moist skin. Mudkip shuddered fearfully, and began to walk towards the shore of the empty lake.

Mudkip climbed up the side of the lake, breathing heavily as he kicked up dry dust with every step. Mudkip was already starting to feel hot and dehydrated as he crawled along the ground towards the shade of the nearby trees. As Mudkip lay hot and tired in the shade, panting loudly, he looked up at the tree, and his eyes spotted something that caught his interest. Mudkip leaned up against the tree and reached up towards a Y-shaped branch that was about as long as he was. Mudkip cleanly snapped it from the tree and chuckled as he held the top of the Y-shaped branch in his mouth and pointed the long, thin end into the forest.

Mudkip closed his eyes, and he slowly began to walk forward, letting the makeshift divining rod lead him onward.

* * *

After walking for sometime through the wooded area, Mudkip opened his left eye slightly, and he smiled and let the branch fall from his mouth. He opened both eyes and stared at a small mound with a hole on top. Mudkip's eyes lit up as he beheld the sight, and he opened his mouth to pant in thirst as he looked himself over, taking notice of how dry his skin was getting.

Mudkip bent his knees, and then performed an impressive jump into the air and aimed himself into the hole. He fell neatly into the opening, hind legs first. However, he was immediately stuck tight, wedged tightly into the hole with his forelegs and head above ground. Devastated, Mudkip cried out and wiggled and jerked his body around with all his might, but he couldn't seem to get free. Mudkip began hitting at the sides of the mound with his forepaws, and was about to cry out again when he noticed the wisps of steam that began seeping out of the cracks in the mound.

Mudkip stared into space fr a second, then gasped in sudden realization and began trying to pull himself up and out of the hole. Suddenly, a loud crumbling sound caught his attention and made him freeze. Then, the edge of the mound crumbled and Mudkip fell down into the hole.

Mudkip screamed in fear as he spun in a free fall. When he was falling flat with his back facing the bottom of the hole, Mudkip spread himself eagle and dug his feet into the sides of the pit, slowly himself to an eventually stop just four inches above the steaming water below. Mudkip's belly heaved up and down as he breather heavily and loudly, and he could feel the heat of the boiling water on his back. Mudkip blew out a breath of relief, but then his eyes went wide as he heard the water below him bubble louder and the ground around him start to tremble.

In a huge burst of steam, the geyser erupted and blasted Mudkip up and out like a rocket. Mudkip screamed and flailed about in a panic as he flew through the air.

Quite a long distance away, Mudkip landed on his belly upon a hard stretch of ground. Mudkip lay still on the ground, too frightened to move at first. His eyes moved up slightly to look up at the Sun, which was still searing hot. Mudkip then looked down at the ground, which was hard and completely black. Suddenly, Mudkip cried out in pain and jumped to his feet. His belly had been burnt by the hot ground. Mudkip then began to yelp out in pain as the black ground started to burn his feet. Mudkip quickly hopped across the ground over to a patch of grass. He let out an exhausted breath and fell onto the grass, the hot Sun still pulling all the moisture out of him. Mudkip smacked his lips and licked them, panting from the heat. He lifted his head and turned to look over at the black ground, but then his eyes lit up as he spotted something on the other side of it. It was a large stone fountain with a gusher of water squirting straight up over it.

Mudkip panting grew louder and faster as his eyes widened at the sight of the water. Mudkip took a step forward, then gasped and quickly stepped back from the burn of the black ground. Mudkip looked back up at the fountain, then narrowed his eyes in determination. He then jumped forward and bounded across the black ground, crying out every time his paws touched it. After a few agonizing seconds, Mudkip made the final leap and splashed into the fountain.

Mudkip came up a let out a sigh of relief as he let his body soak up the cool water. He floated on his back and paddled below one of the streams of water that fell back down from the central gusher. Mudkip opened his mouth and let the water fall into it, but in the very next second, there was a loud clank, and the stream of water became a trickle and then completely ceased.

Mudkip looked up worriedly at the fountain, which had now ceased to give water. His eyes darted around him as the water he was floating in began to drop in its level. He flipped over and stood in the shallow water, his eyes darting over to a drain in the stone basin. As the last of the water drain away, and caused the thin layer of moisture on his skin to evaporate into steam. Mudkip began whimpering as tears welled up in his eyes, and then those tears immediately evaporated before they could even run down his cheeks. Mudkip closed his eyes and shook with anger. Then he shouted wildly and leapt straight up into the air, flipped upside down in mid air, and took on a golden aura as he crashed down right on the drain with a powerful Take Down attack.

The Take Down attack smashed through the bottom of the fountain's basin, and Mudkip fell down fast through a section of pipe. He then hit a bend in the pipe, and then slid down on his belly through an section that was angled slightly downwards. He soon hit another bend, which was angled flat and seemed to go on for quite a distance.

Still panting and feeling dry, the Mudkip turned his body around and then, with a look of foreboding on his face, spat out a strong Hydro Pump to propel him onward through the pipe. Mudkip zoomed through the long stretch, occasionally redirected by the occasional bend or junction. Until, finally, Mudkip felt himself pop out of an opening. Mudkip flew through the air, his Hydro Pump now barely a trickle, and then landed hard on his back on something wooden.

When Mudkip opened his eyes, he was temporarily blinded by the Sun above him. He turned his head away and opened his eyes slightly, feeling the heat rain down on his body. He looked down at his paws and belly, and he began shedding more tears as he saw how dry and cracked his skin was. As the Sun instantly dried his tears, Mudkip lay there on his back crying angrily for a moment, but then immediately silenced himself when he heard a sound he hadn't been aware of a moment ago. Taking a quick breath, Mudkip rolled himself over on his stomach and then turned himself around. His eyes followed the long pier he was laying on over to the large body of water spread out before him.

Mudkip's jaw dropped as his eyes lit up and sparkled as he beheld the sight. He immediately began pulling his body across the song pier with his forelegs, nodding, smiling, and laughing enthusiastically as he came closer and closer to edge of the pier. When he finally reached the edge of the pier, he slid off the edge with a might push and a cheer. He fell down towards the water below him, but then suddenly stopped about a foot above it.

Mudkip stared down at the water, a smile still on his face as his eyes looked to either side of him. He then turned his head, and out of the corner of his eye he saw that his tail fin was caught between two of the slats of wood that made up the pier.

Mudkip timidly reached towards the water with one of his forepaws, trying in vain to touch the water that was several inches away from him. He then flailed all of his legs wildly and let out a scream of anguish, which was suddenly cut off due to the dryness of his throat. Mudkip gave several pitiful sounding dry coughs, and then closed his eyes and hung his head as he let himself hang from where his tail fin got caught. At that moment, there was sound something moving through the water and approaching him, causing Mudkip to open his eyes slightly and look to see what it was.

It turned out to be a Buizel with his head being held above the water by his flotation sac. Mudkip looked on as Buizel used his feet and tail to paddle over to the Mudkip. Buizel looked Mudkip up and down, looking both confused and curious as to what had occurred. Mudkip led his dry tongue hang out and gave several more dry coughs.

Now looking surprised, Buizel swam closer to Mudkip and took a good, close look at him. Then, he raised his paw, grabbed Mudkip's left foreleg, and gave a strong tug. Mudkip's tail fin was pulled from between the slats, and Mudkip splashed unceremoniously into the water. Buizel stared down at where Mudkip splashed into the water, staring at the few bubbles the intermittently came to the surface and popped. Buizel cocked his head in confusion as nothing appeared to happen, and his face began to show a slowly growing sense of concern. Then, without warning, Mudkip burst out of the water and caught Buizel in tight hug with his forelegs, crying tears of joy into Buizel's shoulder as he did so. Buizel floated in shock for a moment, then sighed, gave a smile, and hugged Mudkip back, his wet orange fur pressed against Mudkip's now once again moist smooth blue skin.


	10. Closed Door Policy- Zebstrika

**Poké Beat**

 **Closed Door Policy**

Sunlight dappled downward through the tree tops, the sound of rustling leaves echoing through the still woods. The stillness was suddenly interrupted by a black and white streak that rushed through the forest. A Zebstrika galloped onward, weaving in and out through the trees in his speedy path. He suddenly skidded to a halt and then turned partway behind him. He took a few prances backward and glanced at a mid-sized cabin all by itself in the woods. Zebstrika peered in through the open door and spotted a table in the one room cabin. On the table was a small electric lantern and a wooden bowl filled with various berries.

Zebstrika reared up and gave a happy yip, then quickly dashed straight into the cabin, stopping right at the table, the breeze from his dash swinging the door closed behind him.

Zebstrika quickly ate up the smile pile of berries, enjoying Oran berries, Pecha berries, and even some Persim berries. He sighed contentedly, and he turned to trot over to the door. He raised his right fore-hoof and gave the door a push. Zebstrika gave the door a confused look when the door didn't move. He placed the bottom of his hoof against the wooden surface of the door and put greater pressure on it. He leaned into the door, straining as he pushed hard.

He eventually gave up, and then took a step back from the door. He then raised his hoof again and knocked on the door a few times, looking it up and down inquisitively. Zebstrika then reared up on his hind legs and hit the door with a Stomp. He winced as a vibration reverberated through him. With an angry snort, Zebstrika then took several more steps backwards, and then ran at it with a Quick Attack. He collided with the solid, heavy wooden door, and moaned in pain as he slid down the front of it.

Zebstrika shook it off as he got back up on his hooves, and his eyes then fell on the round doorknob. He moved his fore-hoof over to the doorknob and placed it on top of it, and the grey hoof slipped right off of it. Zebstrika frowned impatiently, his ears falling back as he stared defiantly at the doorknob. He hit at the knob with his hoof several times, it sliding right off of the smooth, rounded object every time.

Zebstrika drew himself up on his hind legs and caught the doorknob in between his two fore-hooves. He did his best to grip the doorknob between his hooves and attempted to turn it, grunting as he partially contorted his forelegs as he tried to turn the knob. His body shook with tension as he put his whole body into turning the knob. His hooves unexpectedly slipped, causing him to fall forward into the door face first.

Zebstrika found himself leaning awkwardly against the door, with the doorknob shoved into his mouth. He snorted out loudly as he stood pushed against the door, then his eyes lit up with an idea. Biting hard on the knob, Zebstrika tried turning his head around in an attempt to twist the doorknob. He went at this for a long moment, until he grunted with pain as his neck began to feel strained. His body relaxed as he gave up, he pulled his mouth off of the doorknob and spat and stuck his tongue out in disgust.

He took another good look at the door, then examined the frame of the doorway. He peeked into the gab between the knob and the frame, and breathed out excitedly as he came up with another idea. Zebstrika took a few steps back, held his head down, and charged at forward. With a loud thunk, his two horns collided with the door frame. One of his horns was stuck in the wooden wall, while the other horn was shoved right into the doorjamb. Zebstrika grinned as he wiggled his head in an attempt to force the bolt back into the door. His ears shot up when he suddenly heard what sounded like a clicking noise.

He let out a laugh and he took several quick steps back. However, he was held in place by his horn that was stuck in the wall. Zebstrika gave a strong tug, but found his horn to be stuck tight. He groaned as he victoriously prance backwards, pulling as hard as he could. With an angry snort, Zebstrika placed both fore-hooves against the wall, and pushed with all his might as he pulled his head back. Eventually, he pulled his horn free from the wall, but stumbled backwards into the table, knocking the electric lantern to the floor, instantly plunging the cabin in darkness.

Zebstrika looked around nervously, unable to move a muscle in the darkness. But as his eyes adjusted to the dark, he spotted something before him. It seemed to be a square of light, with another line of light running down the middle from top to bottom. Zebstrika looked straight at it, then narrowed his eyes as he took a few steps in place. Then, he launched himself forward with another Quick Attack.

There was a tremendous crash as Zebstrika smashed through the window and knocked the closed wooden shutters askew. Zebstrika breathed in and out heavily as he looked around, and yipped happily, prancing and jumping around with joy. With a smile of relief and confidence, Zebstrika ran off like lighting back into the forest.


	11. Sheerly Stuck- Suicune

**Poké Beat**

 **Sheerly Stuck**

The still lake sparkled in the sunlight, making a very picturesque scene. By the lake was a currently empty campsite, complete with a spot for making a campfire. There were still holes in the ground where the previous group of campers had hammered down stakes to pitch their tents. The campers has left only a few days ago, leaving the area peaceful and quite one again.

A gentle breeze, as graceful as the Aurora Borealis, floated through the area. Following behind it was a Legendary Pokemon of blue and white, with an ethereal, flowing purple mane. Suicune leaped out of the woods and landed on the surface of the lake, bouncing off of the still surface as if he weighed nothing. He left only a glowing ripple every time his paws landed atop the surface, and he sprang effortlessly off the water, crossing the lake with the utmost grace.

Suicune landed on solid ground, on the other side of the lake, where the campsite was situated. He turned around and looked upon the lake of pure water, it sparkling clean. Suicune breathed out slowly, his breath in sync with the cool subtle breeze flowing around him. He then turned back and continued to walk on his way through the empty campsite, a smile on his face as he walked forward proudly with his eyes closed.

Without warning, Suicune suddenly jolted to a dead stop just as he put down his front right forepaw. A look of surprise was on his face as he opened his eyes and looked down at his paw. He made an attempt to lift his paw, put something was seemingly pulling back, slightly resisting him. with a growl, Suicune pulled his paw up hard, and saw a large thick strand stretch between the pad of his paw and the ground. The strand then pulled his paw back down to the ground like an elastic, leaving Suicune staring down at his paw in anger.

Suicune pulled his right forepaw up again, but the result was the same as the wad of gum snapped his paw back down to the ground. It was a particularly large wad of gum, clearly multiple piece stuck together and carelessly discarded by a thoughtless human child. The gum had landed on the paved trail that ran through the campsite, adhering strongly into asphalt, and now the top half of it was stuck fast to the underside of Suicune's paw.

Suicune lifted his paw slightly, and he snorted contemptuously at the stretched out gum. He then looked with disgust at the campsite, at the extinguished campfire and the patches of grass matted down by tents. Suicune's mouth fell open as the gum snapped his paw back with such force that he nearly fell froward. Blinking, and now feeling truly insulted, Suicune growled lowly and sat down on his haunches. Suicune then shook his mane out, showing it's full volume. He threw his head back and roared, his eyes wide as he felt the wind rush around him. Clenching his teeth, he swung his ribbon like tails in circular patterns around him. A confident smile graced his face as his tails sliced through the air. He tensed the muscles in all four of his legs, and then sprang to rear up on his hind legs.

Suicune yelped in shock as he was forcefully pulled down hard onto the ground. He had closed his eyes out of instinct and fright, and when opened them, he looked over at his forepaws. He lifted his right forepaw, and was rewarded with the sight of the stretching pink wad of gum underpaw.

Suicune breathed in out and out slowly, staring wide eyed at the gum right before it snapped his paw back down. He self consciously looked around him for a moment, and then, still low to ground, started to crawl backwards. He watched as the strand of gum stretched out further and further, getting thinner and thinner. Suicune started to smile eagerly, but it quickly faded as he felt his right foreleg getting pulled. He soon felt an aching in his shoulder, but kept pulling regardless. Then, Suicune felt his entire body getting pulled across the ground. He clenched his teeth as he felt his underbelly being dragged across the bare ground.

He breathed heavily as he slid back to where he started, and then slowly stood up on all fours, looking down at his stuck paw. He then swung his tails around him, slicing at the air, and then glanced back down at his paw with a confident gleam in his eye.

Suicune lifted his paw off of the ground, straining to keep the gum stretched out. He then brought his tails forward, holding them next to the stretched out gum as he continued his heavy breathing. Then, he pulled his tails back, ready to lash out at the gum. However, as he did this, his front right leg gave out and was pulled down to the ground, causing his tails to lash out at either side of his leg with the sound of two loud whip-crack.

Suicune held his breath as his purple eyes quickly surveyed the surrounding area. Keeping the rest of his body still, he nonchalantly moved his left foreleg off of the asphalt path and dug at the ground with his free forepaw. Once he had a decent sized depression dug into the ground, he casually leaned over and bent down slightly so he could fit his mouth and snout snugly into the hole. His shut his eyes tightly, and an unintelligible muffled sound shook the patch of ground that held Suicune snout. Suicune's entire head shook, and the dirt around his face cracked a bit. He then quickly pulled his snout out of the hole in the ground and took several loud gasping breaths.

Then, in one swift motion, Suicune wrenched his paw off of the ground and swung his tails at the strand of gum with another two cracks of a whip. Suicune looked in utter disbelief as the ends of his ribbon like tails instantly got stuck within the gum as soon as they touched it. The gun then pulled Suicune's paw back down on top of the ends of his tails.

With a look of desperation, Suicune quickly wrapped as much of the rest of his tails as he could around his right foreleg. He then pulled as hard as he could with both his body and his tails. He nearly stood up on his hindlegs as the strand of gum stretched out longer and longer, only to snap him back down to the ground, smacking his chin against the asphalt.

Suicune gave a growl as he stood up, and yanked his tails to unravel them from round his leg. However, his ribbon-like tails didn't move. He looked at his leg, and saw that the ribbons were tightly wound around it and tangled up to much to be easily unraveled. A look of despair crossed Suicune's features, which was quickly replaced by one of anger and shame.

The light of fury sparkled in Suicune's eye as he lifted up his right forepaw once more and held it up. Suicune looked at the stretched out gum and opened his mouth. The inside of Suciune's mouth started to glow with light blue energy of Sheer Cold. A spinning wind came out of Suicune's mouth and he fired a powerful light blue beam of energy surrounded in light blue sparkles and wind down at the gum. In an instant, the gum, the patch of ground, and Suicune's entire leg was encased in ice.

Suicune closed his mouth and growled in satisfaction. He then gave his leg a strong yank to pull it off of the ground, but frowned when it didn't move. Suicune tried crawling backward to free his leg, but it was frozen solidly to the ground. Snarling with even more rage than before, Suicune starting clawing and biting at the ice around his leg wildly. However, after giving one large bite in which his whole mouth had nearly closed around his frozen leg, Suicune felt something tug his tongue forward. Suicune looked down his snout and saw to his dismay that his tongue was stuck to the surface of the ice.

Suicune simply stared down his snout for a long moment, his mane just resting over his back in shame. Then, he sniffed loudly and contemptuously, and stood up as best as he could with his head attached to his right foreleg by his tongue. He then reached out with his left forepaw and started rubbing hard at the ice on the ground around his leg, while intermittently trying to pull his frozen leg up. Eventually, and with one last tug, the ice on the ground cracked and broke, allowing Suicune to pull his still frozen leg off of the ground.

Suicune stumbled forward a bit, unable to look up at where he was going with his tongue still stuck to his leg. He was also unable to bend his leg, and had to walk on three legs. Suicune strained to see what was ahead of him, and quickly spotted a large, thick tree a few yard away. Looking down at the ice around his leg, Suicune nodded decisively and aimed himself the best he could at the tree. He attempted to hold his right foreleg out in front of him, and silently groaned as the position strained his neck. Then, after inhaling and exhaling deeply, Suicune ran as fast as he could at the tree. In a an instant, both Suicune's leg and his face collided solidly with the sturdy tree trunk.

* * *

Suicune opened his eyes slowly as he regained consciousness. He looked up at the sky for a moment, and then quickly got up on his feet and quickly looked around. he then slowly directed his sight down to his leg, and let out a long low growl of relief to see that the ice had been shattered off of it. He extended his leg, and his tails unwound from around it now that the tips of them were freed from the gum.

Suicune took a moment to calmly breath in and out as his tail moved back into their normal flowing position, and then started walking forward, his eyes wide open and occasionally moving from straight ahead to slightly down to the ground in front of him from time to time. Suicune's gait gained speed and confidence as he left the empty campsite.


	12. Fetch- Braixen

**Poké Beat**

 **Fetch**

There was a subtle chill in the forest air, marking the tail end of Winter, although Spring was still a long ways away. However, this did not bother the Pokemon in the small clearing surrounded by evergreen trees. Warmth and light was brought through the woods as a Braixen twirled the branch in her right paw as she walked through the area. She smiled as she admired the flame that danced upon the end of her branch, and then took a moment to close her eyes and lovingly rub the branch against her furry cheek.

She sighed and opened her eyes to look around at the small clearing, just big enough for a Pokemon of her size. Braixen then held out her branch and watched as the flame grew larger. She tossed it up like a baton, watching it spin in the air to create a fiery circle. She then reached up and caught it, continuing to spin it with her right paw as she herself began twirling around, balancing on one foot. She then jumped up, no longer spinning her branch but instead holding out straight. She then performed a midair pirouette, creating a ring of fire around her, laughing happily as she spectated her own performance in her mind's eye.

Braixen then tossed her branch up again and then landed solidly on the ground. She held her head down and held her right arm out. She waited a few seconds, and deftly caught the branch as it fell. Then she crossed her arms and did a perfect back flip, flinging her slender arms wide open at her landing, smiling elatedly and breathing heavily.

Braixen closed her eyes blissfully and brought her right paw to her cheek to give her branch another loving nuzzle. However, she quickly noticed that she couldn't feel anything touching her cheek. She opened her eyes and saw to her horror that her right paw was empty.

Braixen gasped and looked around nervously, searching the ground for her branch. When she didn't find it on the ground, she immediately looked to her right and then ran off in that direction. She ran through a bunch of evergreen trees and then stopped in her tracks when she saw it. It was her branch, with it's flame was out, and it was only a few yards away from where she stood. Braixen smiled with relief and quickly ran towards it. Her smile enhanced as she quickly closed the distance between her and her branch. When she was nearly right next to it, Braixen halted her legs, only to find, to her surprise, that her feet suddenly had no traction. She looked down at her branch in dismay as she smoothly slid past it, spinning around in a semicircle as she turned her body to keep looking at the branch.

Braixen then realized that she was continuing to slide, and was moving backwards rather quickly. She started running forward quickly, which eventually slowed her down to a stop. She looked down and saw that she was standing upon the thinly frozen surface of a lake that still had let to melt. Braixen cocked her head in interest at the phenomena, but then shook the distracting thoughts out of her head and focused on her branch that still lay out in the middle of the frozen lake.

Braixen took a deep breath and slowly raised her left leg and took a careful step forward, placing her footpaw gently upon the ice and trying to feel the ice under the pad of her paw. She then repeated this with her right leg, taking another slow step forward. After taking these two first steps, Braixen let out the breath she was holding and relaxed her body. At that moment, her footpaws slipped on the ice in opposite directions and she fell down in a split.

Braixen's jaw dropped in response to the pain, and she clenched her teeth as she put her paws down onto the ice and used her arms to push herself back up. After an agonizing moment, she was once again standing up. She then looked longing over at her branch, then took a look behind her. She then carefully walked backwards, sliding backwards on the ice onto she reached solid ground. She continued to back up a few feet away from the edge of the frozen lake. Then, she lined up her body with the distant branch, and then started running as fast as she could toward the lake. Right when she go to the edge, she jumped up about 2 or 3 feet and sailed forward, propelling her body over the ice and toward the branch. She extended her right arm towards the branch, smiling eagerly all the while. However, she rapidly lost altitude as her long jump carried her forward. Her footpaws touched down a little more than a foot away from the branch, and she let out a yelp as she broke right through the thin ice and splashed into the chilly water.

Braixen nearly instantly came up for air, gasping loudly as she clung to the unbroken ice with her paws. After gasping and shivering for a few seconds, her eyes quickly zeroed in on the branch lying on the ice right in front of her. She stretched out her slender right arm and reached for her branch. Braixen strained to close the small, less than a centimeter gap between her paw and the branch. She desperately wiggled her digits and straightened her arm as much as she could, but it was entirely futile.

Braixen trembled violently as the chilly water sent shivers up her back and numbed her legs. Hot tears of anger leaked out of her eyes, and she let out a piercing cry of anger as she slammed the ice hard with her left paw. When she did this, the patch of ice her branch was resting on broke away and tipped like a catapult from the force of Braixen's slam. This sent the branch nearly straight up into the air, and it came down and punched into the ice a few feet away, standing straight up like a miniature dead tree.

Braixen quickly turned around to look at where the branch landed. She then carefully put her paws on the ice on either side of the hole she was floating in, and then used her upper-body strength to slowly lift herself up and out of the water. She placed her feet onto the thin ice and slowly and carefully stood up. Then, while she took gentle breaths in and out, Braixen bent her knees slightly and slowly pushed off with her footpaws, briskly sliding over to her branch.

Before long, she had reached her branch, and immediately grabbed onto it with both paws with the utmost glee. She gave it a fierce tug and it popped out of the small hole it had punched in the ice. Braixen rubbed her branch against her cheek emotionally and held it close to her chest. However, her moment was interrupted by a soft cracking sound. Braixen looked around a bit, then glanced down to see many hairline cracks forming in the ice under her feet. She looked at the hole that her branch had pierced and saw that all that cracks were coming from it.

Braixen gave a whimper and shook her head as she looked at the tiny hole with wide, pitiful eyes.

There was a louder cracking sound as slightly larger cracks spread out from the hole.

Braixen let out a small scream as her eyes darted from the hole to her branch. She gave her ears several hard tugs, and then cried out in anguish as she jammed her branch back into the hole in the ice. She closed her eyes and stood absolutely still in a flinching position for a few seconds, then opened her eyes and let out a sigh. She looked sadly at her branch for a moment, then her eyes lit up as an idea came to her.

Braixen fell flat on her stomach and crawled her way off of the ice. Before long, she returned the same way, while holding a stick about the same thickness as her branch in her teeth, albeit a bit shorter.

Braixen held the stick in her left paw and then gripped her branch with her right. She narrowed her eyes in concentration at the two pieces of wood, and then as she took a large breath, she jumped up onto her feet and pulled her branch out, and completed her one fluid motion by plunging down the stick into the hole.

She stared down at the stick in the ice for a tense moment, scarcely daring to breathe. Then, when nothing appeared to be happening, she smiled gleefully and looked at the branch she held in her paws. She turned to walk off, rubbing the stick against her cheek, when her left leg suddenly fell down through a small hole the thin ice. Braixen gasped and held onto her branch tightly as she stared down at where her leg disappeared beneath the ice. Then, without warning, her right leg also broke through the ice, causing Braixen to cry out in fear.

Braixen tried to pull herself up to get her legs out of the cold water, but her haunches were wedged into the holes and plugged in tight. She gave a sad look for a moment, but then perked up and held her branch high. She waved it once, and launched Flamethrower down onto the ice she was stuck in. The ice then seemed to instantly disappear, and Braixen was promptly dropped into the water.

Braixen quickly resurfaced close to the shore and paddled onto dry land. She lay on the cold ground and glanced around her. Her eyes suddenly widened and she looked at her paws and then her tail. She then dived back into the water with a splash, and then quickly crawled back out soaking wet and freezing. Her fur was completely soaked and dripping water, and the fur in her ears was drooping low from being saturated. But, in Baixen's right paw, held in the tightest grip possible, was her branch.

As she trembled from the cold, Braixen shakily pointed her branch at herself, closed her eyes, and unleashed a Fire Blast. When the smoke finally cleared, Braixen was standing up tall with a look of contentment on her face, her fur completely dry and fluffed up. She both looked and felt like the very picture of good health.

Braixen lovingly rubbed her branch against her cheek and kissed it, and then briskly walked away from the thawing lake without looking back, holding her branch tight in her paw.


	13. Lock Pick-nic- Weavile

**Poké Beat**

 **Lock Pick-nic**

The air was cool over the mountain resort, like the cool snow on the ski slopes. Evergreen trees stood tall and lightly frosted with the white snow, with green bushes bellow them. Through the bushes, a small Pokemon dashed quickly, under the cover of the shady foliage.

The Weavile skidded to a quick halt behind a tree and leaned against it, taking a moment to rest. He looked up in surprise as his stomach let out a loud gurgle of hunger. He sadly rubbed his empty stomach, and then peeked out from behind the tree he was resting against. He gasped softly as he looked upon a small area with picnic tables in it, his eyes zeroing in on a picnic basket that sat by itself on one of the tables.

Weavile quickly move back behind the tree and licked his lips. But then gained a worried look as he quickly peeked out from behind the tree again and took a quick sweeping glance around the area.

Weavile then took a deep breath and steeled himself, as he crouched down low next to the tree and aimed at the picnic basket. He tensed himself, quietly let out his breath, and then sprang, performing a flying leap at the picnic table on which the basket lay. Weavile landed on the table, but cried out as the force of his landing knocked the wooden board loose and up like a catapult, flinging the picnic basket into the air behind him.

Weavile lay on his back, staring at the sky, frustration stamped on his face. He growled, and started to push himself up with his claws. But he stopped halfway when he saw that his footclaws were stuck in the wooden board he knocked loose. Frowning, he grabbed the board with his claws and pulled his feet away until his footclaws popped out of the wood. He gave a small grin as he looked at his footclaws and wiggled then, but then gasped and jumped up quickly as he turned in the direction of the picnic basket.

He quickly ran off into the woods, tearing through bushes and by trees. Suddenly, he was stopped by the hard rock of the mountainside. Weavile slid down to the ground, slightly dazed from running right into the mountain, but then quickly shook it off and got up. He looked up and let out a satisfied snicker, his eyes fixed on a ledge a few feet above him where the picnic basket had landed.

Weavile grinned and used Hone Claws, then he jumped up onto the mountainside and grabbed on with his long claws. He then started to climb up the rock face, grabbing tightly onto claw holds, and digging his razor sharp claws into the rock where there was no claw hold. Weavile looked up excitedly at the picnic basket as he got closer to the ledge. His stomach let out another gurgle when he was about a foot under the ledge. Weavile reached out with his left claw and grabbed onto the ledge. Laughing happily, Weavile move his right arm to grab the ledge with his right claw, but immediately discovered that his right clawed hand wouldn't move.

Weavile looked at his right claw and saw that it was wedged deep into the rock. Weavile gave his claw a tug, but found that it wouldn't budge. He tugged harder, closing his eyes and straining as he threw his whole body into it, leaning back over the great height he had climbed. Frustrated, Weavile snarled and showed his fangs. He then let go of the ledge above him with his left claw and grabbed his right arm. He pulled with all his might, staining and groaning, until his claw finally popped out of the wall. He smiled and admired his claws as he opened and closed his hand, but then his smile turned into confusion as he began to fall backwards. He shook his head no as he reached for the mountainside that he was slowly falling away from, but he couldn't quite reach and let out a scream as gravity pulled him back and down.

Weavile closed his eyes in fear, but he suddenly felt himself lurch to a halt. He opened one eye, and saw that he was upside down. He opened the other eye and looked up at his footclaws. They were also wedged into the rock, leaving Weavile hanging upside down by his feet.

Weavile stared up past his feet and spotted the ledge where the picnic basket was. Weavile's tongue quickly ran across his lips, and he closed his eyes and took several quick breaths. He then put his palms against the mountain side, and pushed off from the rock wall, swinging his body halfway up. He did this again as he fell back down, this time coming up three-fourths of the way. On the third time, he swung up far enough to grab onto the ledge with both claws. Holding on tightly, he gritted his teeth and pulled his legs back with all his might. His feet eventually popped out of the rock face and kicked out behind him. He flailed his legs wildly and quickly scrambled up on the ledge.

Weavile breathed in and out heavily, but then snicked with delight as he beheld the picnic basket on the ledge next to him. He quickly opened it and climbed inside of. After a brief moment of rummaging around inside, Weavile quickly popped back out and held a small plastic cube in his right claw. Inside the cube was a Deluxe Sweet Pokepuff.

Weavile held the box up to the light and oohed at the treat inside. She took a close look at the hard plastic box and saw a small locked clasp that kept the lid closed. Weavile looked at the look inquisitively, and then set it down on the ledge as he took another look through the picnic basket. He took his head out of the basket, picked it up, and turned upside down. He shook it for a few seconds, until a tiny key fell out and clattered against the rock ledge.

Weavile jumped about excitedly, still holding the picnic basket over his head. He tossed the basket over the edge and then reached down with his left claw to grab the key. He brought up his claw, but looked at it in confusion when he saw he didn't have the key. He looked down and saw that the key was still resting on the ledge. Weavile bent down and placed his left claw over the small, flat key, and then quickly pinched and pulled up. Seeing the key was still on the ground, Weavile growled angrily and stomped his feet impatiently.

Weavile got down on his stomach and placed both his claws on either side of the one inch long key. He then slowly brought his claws in so that the tips of his middle touched the edges of the key. He then slowly brought his claws up, and saw that the key was being lifted up by his middle claw tips. Weavile breathed out excitedly, and his breath knocked the key out of his fragile grip.

Fuming with frustration, Weavile snarled and scratched at the ground in rage. He then brought his head down and started biting at where the key lay. He did this for about a minute, and then quickly stood up holding the key in his mouth, smiling gladly around it. Then, his tiny nose gave a twitch, and he sneezed. Weavile stood still as a statue with his mouth agape as he watched the tiny key glint in the sunlight as it was sent flying into the woods below and out of sight.

Weavile fell to his knees miserably, his lip trembling, and turned to look at the locked hard plastic box. He gave the Deluxe Sweet Pokepuff a look of longing, and his stomach gave out a loud gurgle. Weavile then turned to look out at the land before him, then his ears twitched upwards and he gasped as an idea came to him. He got up, grabbed the box, and used his claws to quickly slide down the side of the mountain.

* * *

Weavile stopped beside a railroad track, and snickered at his own cleverness. He jumped onto the track and placed the box on the metal rail. Then he bent down, placing his head behind the box, looking through the plastic and down the tracks. He narrowed his eyes, focusing hard as he tried to tilt the box so that the Pokepuff slid closer to one side as he tried to balance the box on the edge of the rail. Weavile scowled as the box kept falling off the rail, and simply slammed it down dead center.

Suddenly, Weavile's left ear twitched and turned to face behind him. He quickly recognized the sound as a train whistle, and refocused on the plastic box. He lined up his left claw with the rail, and thrust it forward towards the box. His claw touched it at a point pretty close to dead center. He slid the box over a bit so that his claw touched closer to where the lock was, but when he let go of the box with his left claw, it fell off of the rail.

Fuming over his failed plain, Weavile stood back up and stomped his feet angrily. Pouting, he went to take a step forward, only to find that his feet wouldn't move. He looked down and saw that his foot claws were stuck within one of the wooden railroad ties. Both of his ears then shot up when he heard the train whistle. He turned and saw the train fast approaching from a distance away, and let out a fearful cry before grabbing his right leg with both claws and pulling desperately. Another whistle from the train increased the look of panic on his face. Weavile bent his legs and attempted to jump, but his claws held him tight. He made another attempt, but then fell forwards, flailing his arms as he landed chest first on the metal rail.

Weavile looked upwards and sideways, and screamed when he saw the approaching train. He quickly sat up, raised his claws, and went at the wooden railroad with Fury Swipes. He looked up at the train and down at his legs repeatedly as he kept up his attacks on the wooden railroad tie. His eyes lit up when he managed to cut through one side of the wood, and he quickly pulled his arms in and attacked the part of the wood on the other side of his stuck feet. His eyes were wide with terror as he saw the train close in on him, and as he tensed up his legs and pulled as he hacked with Fury Swipes, he suddenly felt himself lurch backwards and out of the train's path in the nick of time.

Weavile lay on his back, his chest heaving up and down as he caught his breath. He lay there until the train had passed and the forest was relatively quiet. He then slowly sat up and sniffed, his eyes focused on the plastic box next to the train tracks. Weavile dragged himself wearily over to the box, unable to stand, and picked it up. He tapped the hard plastic a few times, then looked at the look. He raised his free left claw, and jabbed the lock with his middle digit. To his surprise, he found that his claw was stuck inside the lock. Frustrated, he tried pulling his claw out, but to no avail. He gripped the box tightly and twisted, closing his eyes as he grunted with exertion. He then heard the sound of something breaking. He opened his eyes and gasped when he saw that his claw was free and the lock had shattered completely.

Filled with a sudden boost of energy, Weavile jumped up and spun around, grinning madly as he flicked the lid of the box open, took out the Pokepuff, and dropped the box on the railroad tracks. He admired the Deluxe Sweet Pokepuff for a moment, and then held it close to his face with both claws as he licked the frosting off the top of it, walking off into the woods as he enjoyed the treat.


	14. To Break the Ice- Eevee

**Poké Beat**

 **To Break the Ice**

A howling blizzard whirled and whipped around the mountaintop, blowing huge drifts of snow through the air and depositing it on the glacier-like floor consisting of compacted snow. The entire world was white, except for the sky, which was a dark steel gray. However, through the whiteness, a small moving patch of brown was visible.

Eevee grimaced as she struggled against the vicious wind that blew through her tail and pushed back her ears. She kept one eye closed against the force of the wind and forced herself onward, moving forward literally one step at a time. She opened her eye slightly and peered out into the blizzard. Eevee then spotted the soft glowing blue light of an Ice Rock ahead of her. This caused both of her eyes to widen and her mouth to open up from a grimace and into a smile.

Eevee pushed herself onward, more determined than ever, and slowly but surely made her way towards the Ice Rock. When she was within only two steps from the Ice Rock, she suddenly felt herself being held down. She looked down at her paws, which were deep in the ice and snow, and she struggled to pull them out. She stopped to shake off the snow that had built up on her front.

Eevee growled impatiently at her front legs, and gave them another hard tug. Breathing heavily and squinting her eyes against the snow flying in her face, Eevee turned her head upward and swung her tail several times. Her tail glowed white and golden stars came out of it, arced into the air, and crashed down around her. After the Swift attack, Eevee hopped backwards and picked up her paws, turning around to look at them all as she smiled with relief at being freed.

Suddenly, Eevee's ears perked up and caught a subtle cracking. Eevee slowly turned to the Ice Rock, and then gasped when it suddenly sank into the ground. She cried out and ran towards the hole it left behind, but the howling winds held her back at first. Then, the winds suddenly died down, and Eevee stumbled forward towards the hole.

Eevee squeaked out fearfully as she fell into the hole, but she gripped the far edge of the hole with her front paws and hooked her hind paws onto the edge behind him. Her chest heaved in and out, her breath making big clouds as she stared into the deep icy pit. Eevee then took a deep breath and pushed off with all of her legs, propelling herself upwards and forward. However, at that moment, the wind picked up and pushed her back a bit. Eevee took a quick glance downwards, and pulled her legs in close as she fell down screaming.

Eevee fell straight down several feet and landed on an icy slope. She immediately slid down the tunnel on his rump, flailing her hind paws wildly in an attempt to stop herself. She then hit a bump on the tunnel and back-flipped upwards and landed on her back with her hind paws in front of him. Eevee cried out as her speed increased, and she began to slide up and around the tunnel.

She then shot out into a more open chamber, and spun out right before hitting a ramp-like bump in the ice. She spun wildly through the air, and landed up on her hind legs as the chamber narrowed around her. Eevee reached up and grabbed the top of the tunnel, and tried to stop herself by digging her claws into the ice. Eevee closed her eyes and grimaced as a loud scratching noise echoed throughout the tunnel as she continued to slide through. She opened her eyes a bit, then they shot open wide as she saw the Ice Rock at the end of the tunnel. Eevee was filled with delight as she leaned her head forward as she continued to slide towards the Ice Rock. Then, about a foot away from the Ice Rock, she stopped.

Eevee blinked her eyes, and then lurched her body forward in an attempt to free herself. Her claws were stuck fast into the ice, and she looked around in aggravation at her stuck paws. Eevee breathed in loudly, and then thrust out her chest towards the Ice Rock. She groaned loudly as she tried puffing out her stomach in an attempt to get in contact with the Ice Rock.

Eventually, Eevee gave up and hung spread wide in the tunnel for a moment, then huffed and shook her tail. It glowed white and launched another Swift attack. The stars shattered the ice around her, and she looked around nervously as the section of tunnel collapsed around her, and she was dropped into icy cold water.

Eevee sunk down fast, and held her breath for all it was worth, her cheeks bulging. Then, a large piece of ice struck her in the back, caused a large air bubble to fly out of her mouth. Eevee made a choking sound as she was pulled forward by a strong current. She flailed her hind legs wildly, her eye wide with terror as she placed her forepaws on her neck. As she tumbled through the water, she suddenly noticed the air bubble that was knocked out of her from earlier. She quickly reached out to it with her forepaws, kicking her hind paws wildly. She eventually caught it in her forepaws and sucked it into her mouth. Her eyes became slightly calmer, only for her to slam into a wall of ice with her back. The air bubble was knocked out of her again, and it floated in front of her for a second or two before it popped.

Eevee's panic stricken eyes looked upwards and saw a hole in the ice not too far above her. She quickly swam up out of the hole and scrambled onto the surface of the ice. Breathing heavily and shivering, she shook the water out of her fur the best she could. Then she took a good look at her surroundings, and saw that she was in a relatively large cavern of ice. She then noticed a pool of water closer to the back of the cavern. She carefully walked towards it, and noticed that the water seemed strangely different to her. She carefully dipped her left forepaw into it, then cried out in pain and took it back out. She gasped when she saw that ice had formed around her paw, and shattered it by slamming her paw against the ice floor. She sucked on her paw a bit, but this only made her shiver some more.

Eevee looked at the pool of water again, and her eyes widened when she saw a large mass of Never-Melt Ice in the center of the pool. She stared at wonderment at the wondrous sight for a moment, but her attention was soon taken by a large rumbling sound. Her ears twitched behind her, and she gave a fearful cry and threw herself down and curled up in a tight ball. The Ice Rock suddenly burst through the icy wall and crashed tremendously into the opposite wall.

Eevee looked up nervously, and slowly stood up, breathing heavily as she looked at the Ice Rock with tears of joy. Eevee stepped lightly across the icy floor, leaping and jumping through the air, cracking a smile as she stared got closer to the Ice Rock. She twirled in mid air, giggling in anticipation as landed and slid over the ice towards the Ice Rock. She stretched out her left forepaw as she closed the distance. Then, without warning, the ice below her and the Ice Rock broke, plunging them into the water surrounding the Never-Melt Ice.

* * *

A helicopter flew through the sky, carrying a cargo of crates and a large block of ice. Within the ice, discovered in a cave and chiseled out, was Eevee and the Ice Rock. The bungee chords holding the block of ice in place suddenly came loose due to sloppy placement, and the large block slid across the floor of the helicopter and banged against the back door of the helicopter. The block hit the door with enough force to knock it open, and the huge ice cube slid out and fell down several hundred feet and crashed onto the ground below.

When the dust settled, the ice block had broken in two, with Eevee, still with her left forepaw outstretched, in one half and the Ice Rock in the other. Time passed, and the ice slowly began to melt under the Sun, which was currently high in the sky. Soon the Ice Rock's surface was exposed to the air, and Eevee paw stuck out from the ice. Her paw twitched a bit, and the digits wiggled a bit. Her leg attempted to stretch out a bit, and within the ice, Eevee's eyes moved around a bit. More time passed, and the ice soon melted from around her head, and she took a deep breath and looked at the Ice Rock in front of her in desperation.

Eevee narrowed her eyes in determination, and she put all her focus and energy in lurching her body upward. This caused the entire chunk of ice she was frozen in to jump up a bit and forward. Eevee repeated this motion few times until she was right up against the chunk the Ice Rock was frozen in. Eevee sighed in relief as she placed her left forepaw against the Ice Rock and closed her eye. She stood like this for a moment, but then frowned when nothing in particular happened. She looked at where he paw touched the Ice Rock, and realized that the spot she was touching was actually covered in normal ice. She tried to bend her paw upwards in an attempt to touch the part of the Ice Rock that wasn't iced over, but her leg was still frozen solid.

Eevee closed her eyes and trembled with intense frustration, and then threw her weight forward and stretched her neck out. Her nose came within a centimeter of the Ice Rock, and she whined and whimpered as her eyes fixated on the glowing rock in front of her. Then, she shut her eyes and stuck out her tongue as far as she could. He tongue then briefly licked the surface of the Ice Rock.

Eevee's entire body began to glow, and with a flash of light, the ice surrounding her shattered to dust. When the light and dust faded, Glaceon stood with her eyes closed and tongue sticking out. She slowly opened her right eye, and then her left eye, and then gave a gleeful smile before prancing around happily, cheering and laughing with joy. She pirouetted on her hind legs, letting her teal dangles swing around her as she spun.

Her blue eyes sparkling with true happiness, Glaceon nodded with satisfaction and fell back down on all fours. The moment she touched down on the ground, she cried out in pain and reared up on her hind legs, swinging her forepaws a bit before falling back down onto the ground. Glaceon hissed in pain as she clenched her teeth and saw wisps of steam rise from her forepaws. Then she cried out in pain again as the pads of her hind paws felt a searing pain on them, causing her to buck the air behind her before tenderly letting her hind paws slowly rest back down on the ground. She stared at the sandy round and blinked in confusion at first, then she looked up and around at her surroundings. Her eyes then became wide and horrified as she took in the seemingly endless, rocky, cactus riddled desert around her.

Glaceon stood completely still at first, her eyes directed straight ahead. Then she sat down on her haunches with a thud, and her breathing suddenly became fast and heavy, as if she were about to hyperventilate. Sweat beaded up on her rump, legs, and cheeks, and her eyes started to fill with tears, which then began to evaporated along with her sweat in the hot Sun. Then, she reached up with her forepaws and grabbed onto her dangles, pulling them hard with all her might. Glaceon let them go with a snap and then let out an agonized and anguish filled scream.

 **To Be Continued**

 **(What? You'd think I'd let it end like _that_? Do you think I'm a monster?)**


	15. Selling Ice to a Glaceon- Glaceon

**Poké Beat**

 _ **The Story So Far**_

 _Eevee closed her eyes and trembled with intense frustration, and then threw her weight forward and stretched her neck out. Her nose came within a centimeter of the Ice Rock, and she whined and whimpered as her eyes fixated on the glowing rock in front of her. Then, she shut her eyes and stuck out her tongue as far as she could. He tongue then briefly licked the surface of the Ice Rock._

 _Eevee's entire body began to glow, and with a flash of light, the ice surrounding her shattered to dust. When the light and dust faded, Glaceon stood with her eyes closed and tongue sticking out. She slowly opened her right eye, and then her left eye, and then gave a gleeful smile before prancing around happily, cheering and laughing with joy. She pirouetted on her hind legs, letting her teal dangles swing around her as she spun._

 _Her blue eyes sparkling with true happiness, Glaceon nodded with satisfaction and fell back down on all fours. The moment she touched down on the ground, she cried out in pain and reared up on her hind legs, swinging her forepaws a bit before falling back down onto the ground. Glaceon hissed in pain as she clenched her teeth and saw wisps of steam rise from her forepaws. Then she cried out in pain again as the pads of her hind paws felt a searing pain on them, causing her to buck the air behind her before tenderly letting her hind paws slowly rest back down on the ground. She stared at the sandy round and blinked in confusion at first, then she looked up and around at her surroundings. Her eyes then became wide and horrified as she took in the seemingly endless, rocky, cactus riddled desert around her._

 _Glaceon stood completely still at first, her eyes directed straight ahead. Then she sat down on her haunches with a thud, and her breathing suddenly became fast and heavy, as if she were about to hyperventilate. Sweat beaded up on her rump, legs, and cheeks, and her eyes started to fill with tears, which then began to evaporated along with her sweat in the hot Sun. Then, she reached up with her forepaws and grabbed onto her dangles, pulling them hard with all her might. Glaceon let them go with a snap and then let out an agonized and anguish filled scream._

* * *

 **Selling Ice to a Glaceon**

The Sun was highest it could be in the sky over the desert landscape. Deep in the heart of this barren land, nothing but cactus, rocks, and sand could be seen. However, currently there was one exception.

Glaceon stretched out her left foreleg and reached out with her dark blue paw for what felt like the hundredth time, and then grabbed onto the hot and dry sandy ground. Getting a grip, she pulled herself another few inches forward across the ground for what felt like the hundredth time. She then repeated this action with her left foreleg and paw for what felt like the hundredth time.

She stopped for a moment, breathing heavily as she craned here neck to look behind her. She could see the rapidly evaporating trail of moisture her body left behind as she dragged herself across the ground. In addition, water continued to drip from the dangles on either side of her head. Glaceon gave a tearful glance up at the cloudless sky, not daring to even look in the hot Sun's general direction, then lowered her head and whimpered. She closed her eyes as her tears quickly dried up an became sticky on her cheeks.

Glaceon began dragging herself forward again, grunting in pain at the scorching ground. After moving forward about two more feet, suddenly, and much to her surprise, Glaceon felt her extended right forepaw sink into the ground. Glaceon raised her head slightly and looked at her stuck paw. She gave it a tug, but the ground seemed to have a strong force of suction on it. She placed her left forepaw next to it, and it was quickly sucked into the earth as well. Confused and slightly delirious, Glaceon got up on her paws shakily and took a few steps forward with her hind legs, leaning forward and pulling in an attempt to pull her forepaws out. When this didn't work, she noticed that her hind paws were know sucked into the mud-like earth.

Glaceon looked down at the patch of ground she was stuck in, and her blue eyes widened as she noticed that she was starting to sink. Glaceon clenched her teeth as she tried pulling her legs out, but was suddenly pulled back down and sank further into the quicksand. Glaceon gasped as she saw that her legs were completely submerged, and her body was starting to sink as well. Glaceon cried out angrily and thrashed around, but stopped to let out several dry coughs. She took a few deep breaths, and then looked down to see that she was up to her neck in the quicksand. This caused her to let out several loud grief-stricken sobs.

She hung her head miserably, her dangle lying on the surface of the quicksand, and was still for a moment until she finally realized that she had stopped sinking. Pouting, she wiggled her head and neck, and then tried to move her paws. None of them seemed to move, but then Glaceon's eyes widened a touch when she felt something flat with her right hind paw. Focusing hard, Glaceon pushed her paw down as hard as she could, and she felt something give. Suddenly filled with confidence, Glaceon then found she could move both of her hind paws, and then stomped her left hind paw down even harder.

Instantly, the quicksand, and Glaceon with it, fell down into a deep pit and crashed down onto the bottom of a cavern. As the quicksand slowly spread out, Glaceon popped her head out of the mound and took several deep breaths, her eyes wide and panicky. She shook the sand out of her ears and looked ahead of her and saw a pool of water. Glaceon's tongue lolled out of her mouth, and she quickly crawled her way out of the mound of quicksand. She ran towards the water's edge, panting loudly, and just as she reached it, another pile of quicksand fell right on top of her.

Glaceon popped her head out from the side of the pile of thick sand, and took several gulps of air. Then she looked down at the water and craned her neck towards it. She panted as she stuck her tongue out and attempted to lap up the water only centimeters away from her. However, there was still about a centimeter between her tongue and the water.

Letting out a cry of desperation, Glaceon opened her mouth and her forehead glowed light blue. She then fired Ice Shard out of her mouth at the rocky shelf she was lying on. The attack smashed up the rock and sent Glaceon, quicksand mound and all, into the water.

Glaceon quickly popped back up to the surface and gave a sigh, and quickly slurped up the water she was floating in. She was so preoccupied with the delightful coolness of the water that she didn't notice that she was moving. Eventually, she looked up and saw that she was some distance away from the rock self. She then turned around and gasped when she saw the short falls ahead of her. Before she knew it, she was pulled over the side and plunged down into the water. A strong current pulled her through the narrow caves. She tumbled and spun through the watery passage at super fast speeds until she was able to right herself and point her head forward, all while holding her breath.

Soon, she saw light ahead of her, and the next thing she knew, her head was suddenly forced out a small hole in the rock. She blinked her eyes as they adjusted to the sunlight, and she looked down to see a trickling spring below her. Glaceon then noticed a building pressure on her rear, and realized that her body was plugging up the spring. She then noticed that the rock around her was begging to crack. And then, right when the pressure nearly crushed her hind legs, she was suddenly forced out of the hole like a cannonball out of a cannon.

Glaceon was shot out at an upward angle and through the air. She screamed throughout her entire flight, until finally landing hard on solid rock chin first. She stood like that for a while, with her tail and hind legs sticking straight up in the air, her mouth and eyes wide open with pain. Then, she let out a shaky sigh and let her legs and body fall down behind her. However, she cried out in fear when there was nothing for the back end of her to land on.

Glaceon had landed on a ledge hanging off of a rocky mountain top, and was currently dangling off of it. Glaceon quickly extended her forelegs outward and grabbed the ledge with her forepaw. She made to pull herself, but to her dismay, she saw that she was slowly slipping backwards, with her paws leaving a trail of water on the surface of the ledge. Glaceon was soon hanging by the tips of her forepaws, and was breathing in and out frantically. With a desperate cry, she swung her entire body upward and did a flip in the air a few feet above the ledge. Then, she quickly positioned her hind legs under her as she fell down, and landed on the very edge of the ledge on her toes.

Glaceon's face was fearful as she breathed in and out slowly, standing up on her hind legs with her forelegs at her sides. She looked at each of her forelegs, then slowly extended them out in front of her. As she did this. she slowly began to fall backwards. She flailed her forelegs wildly as she swung down off of the ledge, but she held onto the edge with her hindpaws, and when she was hanging fully upside-down, she swung herself back up, flipping again, and then bit on the ledge.

As she hung by her teeth, Glaceon quickly grabbed the ledge with her forepaws and with great force, pulled herself up quickly. She pulled herself up so fast that she was thrown into a front paw stand. Balancing in an upside-down position, Glaceon carefully moved one paw forward, only for it to slip on the water she left on the surface. This caused Glaceon to spin around like a top, and this, combined with her exhaustion and stress, made her very dizzy. As her eyes spun in circles, Glaceon clumsily walked herself over to the edge, and with a startled cry, stumbled off of it.

Glaceon looked upward as she fell, screaming in intense fright as the world was a blur around her. She closed her eyes as she prepared for the blow. Then, she landed right into a pile of deep, soft snow.

At first, Glaceon's ears popped out of the snow. Then, her head came out. She looked around and gasped, joy stamped on her face as she came out of the snow bank and jumped on top of it, throwing her entire body on it in an attempt to get as much of it in contact with her body as possible. She smiled tenderly as she practically hugged the snow as she lay spread eagled upon in. She nuzzled her cheek on the snow, basking in its coolness, and let out a gentle sigh.

Glaceon's ears suddenly perked up as a sound caught her attention. She opened her eyes and looked up in surprise as a large group of Glaceons came into view. The other Glaceons were staring at her, and looking straight up from where she fell. They stared at her in silence for a long moment, then they began to bow.

Glaceon blinked in confusion, then looked up to see one of the Glaceon approach her, holding a crown in his mouth. She stood in shock and awe as he gently placed the crown on her head, and was amazed by how perfectly it fit.

Glaceon stood in awe for a moment, then smiled and started laughing, and danced and twirled around joyfully. She then stood tall and called out to the other Glaceons, and all of them began to celebrate with her.


	16. Tiptoe By Imagine Dragon-Type- Garchomp

**Poké Beat**

 **Tiptoe By Imagine Dragon-Type**

It was midnight, with clear skies overhead and the full moon shone down it's silver light upon the land. One house stood alone and rather isolated in the area. It was a large, wooden abode, a rather fancy take on a more traditional style. The house seemed to give a sense of wealth that wasn't overly boastful, yet not completely modest.

In-spite of the late hour, not everyone within the structure was sleeping soundly. One soul was actually wide awake at this hour. Down under the house, in the basement, stood a large indestructible cage, it's door kept shut by a padlock. Within the cage sat a downtrodden Garchomp, who simply stared at the metal bottom of the cage, which was just a little bit taller than he was, but was three times his size area wise. The Ground/Dragon-type sniffed, and then lifted his head to look around at the bars around him. He then slowly got up on his feet, then stuck his left foot out and scratched at the floor of the cage with his footclaws. Garchomp winced at the metallic scraping sound, and brought his foot back, sighing as he looked at the floor, then at the bars, then at the padlock.

Garchomp stared at the padlock for a little longer, then his eyes moved down his left arm and to his claw. An idea suddenly struck him, and he ran over to the side of the cgae with the padlock. He extended his left arm out through the bars and jammed his claw into the padlock's keyhole. He twisted and wiggled the tip of his claw within the massive padlock, looking on desperately as he tried to pick the lock. He closed his eyes and leaned his arm into it, pushing his claw into the lock. Suddenly, there was a loud click as the padlock popped open.

Garchomp nearly cried out in joy, but quickly covered his mouth with one fin. He looked around nervously, and then slowly took out the padlock and set it down gently on the ground. Then, he carefully pushed the door of the cage open, making sure it didn't hit against anything, and carefully stepped out of the cage. He then gently closed the door behind him, and even placed the lock back on the door to keep everything in place.

Garchomp turned his head to look up at the stairs leading up to the basement door, looking eager and excited. He practically jumped up the first couple of steps, but then suddenly lurched forward, nearly falling over as he came to a sudden stop. Garchomp looked down and saw that his right foot was caught between two of the steps. He held onto the railing as best he could with his arms, and tried pulling his foot out. However, his foot was well hooked between the steps. Frustrated, Garchomp pulled his whole body straight up, and there was a sudden loud snap.

Garchomp's eyes darted around fearfully, and he glanced down at his freed foot and the wooden step that was no snapped in half. Garchomp stood completely still for a long moment. Then, his eyes slowly looked up at the stairs before him.

Garchomp lay on his chest, atop the wooden stairs, with his feet stretched out behind him. He reached up and forward with his arms and hooked a step with his claw. He then pulled himself up and over a few stairs, and then repeated the process. Garchomp let out a series of gurgles every time he did this, as his stomach was bumped repeatedly against the steps he was dragging himself over.

Eventually, Garchomp made it to the top, and quickly pulled himself onto his feet and stood before the door. He glanced at the round doorknob, and then looked at his claws. His face fell and gained a look of dismay, but he quickly shook it off and narrowed his eyes. He turned slightly and got into a position to smash the door with his shoulder, but he suddenly stopped as a concerned look passed across his face.

Garchomp sniffed and bent down slightly so that his head was level with the doorknob. Then, he leaned forward with his mouth open and closed it around the doorknob. After moving his tongue around and turning his head a bit, there was a clicking sound, and the basement door swung open.

Garchomp leaned back a bit and crossed his eyes as he stuck his tongue out in disgust. His eyes then widened as he felt himself falling backwards. He flailed his arms for a second, then quickly hooked his claws onto the door frame and pulled himself forwards and through the door.

He looked both ways and saw that he was standing in a hallway. To the left he could see a door in the opposite wall, and the slightly open bathroom door at the end of the hall. Garchomp turned to the right and saw that the hall led to two open entry ways branching off from it, and the left branch had the glow of moonlight shining from it.

At the sight of the moonlight, Garchomp's eyes lit up and he gained an enraptured smile. He turned to face his desired direction, and took a quick step forward with his right. He jerked to a stop when he hear a loud creaking noise. Garchomp looked around nervously, and then stepped forward with his left foot. Another loud creaking sound seemed to echo throughout the entire building, much to Garchomp's distress.

He looked down slowly at the wooden floor he was standing, and then took a small quick step forward with his right foot. Garchomp winced as another creak sounded, and he looked around as her nervously tapped his claws together. He lifted up his left foot and put it back down gently, only to hear another creak that made him turn fast to look at the closed door on the wall behind him.

Garchomp's red throat bulged in and out as he swallowed a lump that had formed in his throat. He then stared down at his big three toed feet with a frown, tapping his footclaws on the floor. Then, he took a breath and slowly picked up his left foot. He extended his left leg out ever so slowly in front of him, so that it was nearly parallel to the floor. Garchomp held his breath as he balanced on his right leg, his eyes focused intensely on his left foot. He then lowered his just as slowly as he had raised it. With his eyes squinted and his teeth clenched, Garchomp gently placed his left foot down on the wood floor. Garchomp let out the breath he was holding and looked upwards in relief as he relaxed his tensed up body and let his weight fall back down equally on both feet, easing himself forward into the step he had taken.

With a loud snap, the floorboards suddenly and without warning gave way under Garchomp's left foot, and his let leg fell into the hole. Garchomp gave a quick roar of surprise as it happened, but immediately put both fins over his face as he quietly waited. The echoes of the snap, crunch, and roar soon faded into silence, and Garchomp carefully peeked out from behind his fins.

After waiting in silence for another moment, Garchomp carefully lifted his leg out of the hole in the floor, turned to look down the hall, and then frantically hop-stepped towards the moonlight, his footsteps creaking behind him. He made a sharp turn to the left, and continued his fast past, only to suddenly find his feet had no traction. Garchomp felt the smooth, polished marble floor beneath his feet as he slid forward. He tried to dig his heels into the floor, but it had no effect on his sliding. Garchomp gasped and whimpered as quietly as he could as he slid towards a pair of ornate double doors with glass crystal windows in them. He closed his eyes and covered his face with his fins.

Garchomp then felt a little tap on his arms, and he opened his eyes and put his arms down to see that he had collided with the doors quite gently. He also realized that he hadn't been sliding very fast on the floor. Garchomp let out a sigh of relief, and then looked down at the metal door handles. He then hooked his claws on each of the handles, and effortlessly pushed them down and open the door.

He looked outside through the open doors with such joy that his eyes motioned slightly, but then a beeping noise caught his attention. Garchomp turned to his left and spotted an alarm security keypad on the wall. He peered closely at it, and saw a timer on the screen counting down from 30.

Garchomp fearfully stared at it and shook his head frantically. He waved his arms desperately as the beeping continued. He grabbed and pulled the horn-like appendages on his head as panic and fear overtook, and then suddenly reared back and swung a Dragon Claw at the keypad.

Garchomp stood there catching his breath for a moment, then he noticed that the beeping had stopped. He looked and saw that the keypad lay on the floor cut right in half. Where the keypad once hung there was a hole in the wall, with bits of cut wire sticking out. Garchomp then turned to the open double doors, and he actually jumped for joy and started running.

As Garchomp ran, wearing a big smile, he quickly noticed that he wasn't moving towards the door. Puzzlement replaced his smile, and he looked down to see that his feet were still slipping on the polished marble flooring. Grachomp growled impatiently and forced his legs to run faster. Her threw all his weight forward and craned his neck outward. He looked down and saw that his golden starred forehead extended right over the threshold of the doors. Garchomp growled low as he put all of his effort into running forwards, and then, suddenly, his feet gained enough traction to send him forward fast. Not expecting the sudden change in forward motion and speed, Garchomp was thrown forward several feet and landed flat on his chest.

Still lying prone and face flat, Garchomp carefully felt at the ground with his left arm. Feeling dirt and soft grass, Garchomp lifted his head and smiled before giving the ground several kisses. He then quickly stood up, and turned back to look at the building. After less than a second, he immediately turned away and started running forward, away from the house. He laughed a rough laugh to himself as he ran, getting louder as he got further away from the building. However, his laughter was cut short when he saw the ground disappear in front of him. He slid a quick stop, but momentum carried him forward a bit, causing him to teeter dangerously on the edge. He looked down in horror at the point sharp rocks at the bottom of the 100 foot drop.

As Garchomp began to fall forward, he wildly flapped his fins to push himself backwards. He quickly succeeded in stopping himself from falling and backed up frantically from the edge. He turned to the right and started running, hopping to find a way across. However, he soon found that he and the house were situated on a tall, cylindrical shaped mesa as he ran around in a wide circle. He soon near the spot where he had begun, only he noticed something he hadn't seen before. It was a long bridge made of wood and rope that extended quite a distance over the pit of sharp rocks and ended at what looked like a wide forest.

Garchomp studied the rope bridge for a moment, then took an anxious glance behind him. He breathed out and careful placed his left foot onto the first board of the bridge. He pushed down with some force, and watched as the ropes we pushed down a bit. Garchomp studied the wooden board and saw that it wasn't bending or cracking. With a quite growl, Garchomp stepped forward quickly, putting his right foot forward. He held out his arms on either side of him, looking straight ahead and the distant other end of the bridge. His weight was pulling the section he was standing on down. Garchomp breathed in and out through his mouth, and then began to quickly step forward across the bridge.

He proceeded across the wooden boards, trying no to look down, or at how the long ropes were sagging down as he got closer to the middle of the bridge. However, his quick pace was halted when his left foot broke through one of the boards. This sent Garchomp's head down and forward, slamming his chin onto the board several feet in front of him. He lay there, eyes tightly shut for a moment, hanging up in mid air with his left legs swinging.

Garchomp slowly opened his eyes, and the careful lifted his arms and put them around the ropes. He pulled himself up and rested his feet lightly on the board in front of the one he broke. He panted heavily, his tongue nearly hanging out of his wide open mouth. Then, Garchomp looked down at his feet, cocking his head with a look of despair in his eyes. He then closed his eyes and shook his head violently. Then, with his eyes still closed, he held his arms out in front of him and breathed in and out slowly. Looking calmer and wearing a smile, Garchomp daintily lifted his left foot, wiggling his footclaws as he did so, and lightly stepped on the next board. He then repeated this motion with his right foot, and then his left, and continued on across the bridge, stepping lightly on his toes every time.

Garchomp went on like this for some time, keeping his eyes shut as he tiptoes across the bridge. Then, after a while, he cracked his eyes open, and then opened them wide as he gasped with delight. He was currently standing on the last two planks of the bridge, and solid ground was literally one step away.

He laughed proudly, turning to look up at the full moon above him, and with a grin, lifted his left foot up high, and brought it down hard on solid ground.

Garchomp's eyes became wide and horror stricken as he suddenly realized what he just did. He looked down at where his foot landed as the ground around it cracked and trembled. Garchomp held his arms straight out on either side of him as the vibrations of the Earthquake traveled through the ropes and through the wooden boards. Garchomp's jaw hung open as he was shaken up to the extreme. He teetered backwards a bit, his left foot leaving the shaking ground and kicking as the bridge shook up and down at an incredible frequency. Garchomp's weight kept him from being tossed up and off of the bridge as it shook up and down wildly.

Then, seemingly as soon as it came, it passed. The bridge slowly but surely stopped vibrating up and down, and eventually calmed down and was still.

Standing balanced on his right foot, Garchomp's breathing was louder and more panic stricken than ever. But then, as peace and calm returned, he let out an exhausted sounding laugh, and brought his left forward to the ground, but suddenly stopped himself. His brought his foot back in, and closed his eyes. With a smile, he wiggled his footclaws, and then slowly brought his foot towards the ground.

Right when his foot was about centimeter away from touching solid ground, the entire bridge split right down the middle. The Earthquake had split all of the boards in half, causing them to drop like trap doors. Garchomp seemed to hang in mid air for a split second, and then he fell with a terrified roar. However, the ropes were still in place, and with his arms still extended, his claws hooked onto the ropes.

Garchomp opened his eyes, and looked at both of his claws. He nodded enthusiastically, and then swung his feet up to catch the ledge in front of him. However, after the first swing, Garchomp quickly began sliding backwards. Like a strange kind of zip-line, Garchomp slid backwards by his claws, his eyes desperately looking at the ledge that he was rapidly sliding away from. He whined and whimpered as he swung his legs wildly in an attempt to stop himself. But before long, Garchomp found himself hanging from the exact midpoint of the bridge, which was where he finally stopped.

As Garchomp hung there, he sighed and hung his head, only to see the pointy sharp rocks 100 feet below him. He winced and whipped his head back up to stare straight ahead of him. But then, his attention was suddenly drawn upwards by the sound of something being plucked. His pupils shrank when he saw that his claws were beginning to slice through the ropes. He shook his head and pleaded with his eyes. His claws were soon through half of the rope.

Garchomp took another glance down below him. He whimpered and crossed his legs tightly. He then felt a vibration as his claws were now through three-fourths of the rope. Garchomp swallowed a huge lump in his throat, and he opened his mouth to let his tongue lick the tip of his lips.

His claws sliced through the ropes, and he promptly fell straight down. As he fell, Garcomp's kept his mouth shut tight, trying with all his might to hold it in. His eyes bulged as his head jerked back and forth, and he twitched his arms and tail spasmodically. Eventually, he couldn't stand it any longer, and he let out a huge screaming of roar of terror and began flailing wildly as he fell down through the air. He spun and tumbled during his fall as his thrashing become more and more wild. But then, all of a sudden, he felt a strong forced push up on him. Garchomp's wide eyes looked at his arms as he fell down. He was falling in a flat position with his chest facing the approaching ground, and his arms were outstretched in a way that his fins were catching the air below them.

A sudden realization struck Garchomp hard like a Hyper Beam, and he clenched his teeth as he positioned his body perfectly. He went into a diving position, looking right at the approaching sharp rocks, and then, at the last minute, pulled up and soared upwards. Garchomp roared triumphantly as he flew up at an extreme angle, using his incredible speed to make it all the way up to ground level, and then landed solidly on both feet.

Garchomp flexed his toes and felt the ground with them, and then turned around to laugh and wave mockingly at the building on far off mesa. He then walked off into the forest, a relieved and very much liberated smiled on his face.


End file.
